


A Twist In The Tale

by Bubblegum73



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Clones, Durin Family Feels, Fili and Kili are awesome older brothers, Gen, Goblins, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, Magic, Mysteries to be unravelled, Orcs, Protective Siblings, Protective Thorin, Torture in a few scenes, Uncle Thorin, Unknown messages, Wargs, Why Did I Write This?, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 72,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25425535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubblegum73/pseuds/Bubblegum73
Summary: Fili and Kili have a little sister! Lets just say, Fili, Kili and Kara get into a lot of trouble! :) Their mischievous ways are often forced to come to a halt when they are battling torture, orcs and a group of enemies out to get them called the sinners.
Relationships: Fili & Kara (OC), Fíli & Kíli, Kara (OC)/Bain, Kili & Kara (OC), Kíli/Tauriel, Thorin & Fili, Thorin & Kara (OC), Thorin & Kili, Thorin Oakenshield & Thorin's Company
Kudos: 23





	1. The Birth Of Something Precious

**Hi! So I am writing this with a couple of people and it has this title because Fili and Kili have a little sister, but that is not the only twist and this first chapter kinda explains this. The first few will be a prologue and then we'll skip to real time where Fili, Kili and Kara will be off on the quest with their uncle Thorin!**

**Chapter one and two you'll be thinking, huh? But, you know, it's a** **_twist_ ** **and introduces some key characters for after the quest or during it.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE HOBBIT OR ANY OF ITS AMAZING CHARACTERS!**

* * *

_No miraculous item out there compares to the phoenix stone. Powered by a drop of blood from each race, situated in the hilt of its very own sword, it traps your soul and you land in a world of your own pain and nightmares. You are hunted if born with the trait in beings that this weapon desires to capture more so; two red eyes. Born not cursed, the cure to this dreadful disease lies in the hands of the wizards and has yet to be created, but if this doesn't occur the evil inside of these unfortunate souls will take its toll and all goodness will be overthrown by the power of orc and the evil kin of the good side. The other item hath magic to produce more malevolence - a cloning device, created by the magic a being possessed. One only of each item remain for they were created by an all powerful yet deceased enchantress. They lie in the hands of true wicked; a child, beautiful of face but vile and black of heart. Not everything does she possess - the phoenix sword with a gap where said stone awaits inserting rests in the hands of a king in exile who lived in a village with his kin, and a cottage with his two nephews, his brother in law and his sister who lay restless, impatiently awaiting a baby._

_-2869_

* * *

Thorin Oakenshield had seen this door before. It was a familiar door that on a daily basis he could swing open and stroll in with a sense of pride, but today he had never been more nervous to enter the room. Slowly and cautiously, he turned the handle before letting go as though it had burnt his fingers when he heard another scream of agony echo from inside.

"Uncle? Is the baby in there?"

"The child isn't born yet, Fili." Thorin answered as he spun around and locked eyes with blue orbs, very much like his own. Fili was only five, but he wasn't new to waiting for delivery. He remembered the birth of his little brother as clear as day and it was the best thing that he had ever witnessed, but secretly he hoped for this baby to be different. A small part of him longed for a little sister. It would be a whole new level.

"What babwy?" Kili asked, cocking his head in confusion at his older brother.

"Our new sibling, Kili!" Fili told him for about the hundredth time.

"What other sibwing?"

"I don't know." Fili answered, lacing his brow together in slight annoyance.

Kili slid down the wall and wrapped his arms around his knees, before gasping in excitement as realisation struck him. "We're having a sibling?"

"Oh, lad." Thorin chuckled as he embraced the distraction that both little dwarflings offered him. "There's no helping you, is there?"

"Can we buiwd a forwt later?" The brunette then questioned with no more than innocence, peering up through his messy, russet bangs.

Thorin laughed as Fili closed his eyes in exasperation.

_This is why I want a sister._

At that moment the door slowly opened and Oin exited, Fili and Kili's father (who went by the name of Karan) trailing after him, both wearing an identical stricken expression.

Thorin snapped his head up, eyes demanding an explanation. "What's going on?"

"Come in." Oin told him, looking to the boys. "Er..."

"I've got it." Karan spoke up, hurrying over to his sons and dragging their protesting figures down the hall.

"What is it?!" Thorin immediately interrogated again as Oin shut the door behind them and sauntered over to the bed where Dis lay, cradling a bundle in her arms whilst she wept. "Dis?"

The woman in dam looked up with glassy eyes and he glanced at the child in confusion, wondering why a moment to be admired was being unfortunately downplayed. "It's a girl, Thorin." She whispered, staring at her baby awestruck.

Thorin found a smile playing on his lips. _He had a niece_. This was a whole new experience for him; the probabilities were endless, but he supposed a girl would be easier to handle than _another_ boy.

"So why do you look like you're about to cry?" He questioned in confusion as he perched on the end of the bed.

Dis shook her head. "Her eye..." The exiled princess watched Thorin's countenance evolve into that of a frown and knew that his reaction would be the opposite of what she wanted. "One of them is red."

Realisation hit Thorin then. He realised why everyone was so distressed and immediately shook his head frantically as Dis tried to protest. "No, Dis, no, we can't!"

"Thorin, please?"

"No!"

"Please?"

"No! What if she tries to hurt Fili or Kili? What if she tries to hurt one of us, Dis? There is no way that you can keep that child!"

"So we raise her not to!" Dis interrupted whatever he was about to say next. "It's only one eye, brother. It's never happened before, it's always two and you know it."

"The orcs will be after her. It's too dangerous, you know they want to make more!"

"We'll find a wizard." She whispered, noticing the old healer sneaking out of the room from the corner of her eye, feeling as though he was standing where he shouldn't. "A wizard can do anything."

"If you've gone through life with that attitude then you should be dead." Thorin hissed.

"Please?" Thorin stared into his sister's brown pools. Everything was hazy in that moment, and out of guilt, sympathy and the slightest bit of hope he found himself nodding. Dis breathed in utter relief and pulled her child closer, feeling herself choke up slightly. "Thank you."

Thorin inhaled a shaky breath and watched her pull the blankets off of his niece. It wasn't the dramatic reveal that he had for some reason expected; it was just a baby. A beautiful, breath-taking baby that grinned up at him with bright green eyes. When Dis said one was red one had assumed she meant the whole thing, but only a trace of red was visible in the top of her left one and it mixed in with the green like a piece of admirable artwork. She only had a couple of strands of wispy baby hair. Her chubby arms reached up, tiny hands flailing in the air to try and reach him. He choked slightly, reaching a hand of his own forward and he pressed his against hers; it was barely the size of his finger.

"Mum!" Fili ran into the room, Karan chasing after him for he had wriggled out of his father's strong grip, desperate to see the new sibling. However, when the father looked up and saw both Thorin and Dis smiling over at him he stopped trying to grab Fili who excitedly skipped over to the elders, placing his hands on the side of the bed as he stood in his tiptoes to try and see the newborn in the bundle for Dis was now hiding her face.

"Fili, remember the promise you made about your brother?" Dis questioned, smiling at the clear giddiness that shone brightly through his young blue eyes that already held so much wisdom and love. He nodded eagerly so the dam continued. "Will you protect this child for as long as you both live for?"

"Of course I will, mama!"

Dis moved her hands to unfold the blanket and reveal the baby's beautiful face when suddenly...

"Boo!"

She swore that she jumped out of her skin in that moment.

The mother whipped her head to the left, eyeing her youngest son in shock. "How did you get there?!"

Kili jumped onto his mother's legs from on top of the duvet on all fours as Dis held the baby closer to her chest in worry that the jostling of the mattress would awaken the poor child. "I've been pwactising my sneaking skills."

Thorin and Dis locked eyes, shaking their heads. "There is a child in my arms, Kili. You could have woken her up."

Kili gasped and rolled sideways off of the bed, landing with a thud on the floor. "Ow." Karen slapped a hand to his forehead as Thorin shut his eyes and shook his head. Fili barely had to reach down to help him up though because he was back on his feet in a second and stood next to his brother, impatiently fiddling with his fingers in anticipation to see his new little sister.

Dis found herself chuckling quietly at the sudden change in demeanor and pulled away the blankets. The siblings gazed at the baby in complete admiration. Karen smiled from behind them as Thorin walked to stand next to him. "I can tell you now that this trio will never break."

Karen nodded in agreement, observing the three uniting for the first time. He watched the faces of both of his sons, noticing that Kili especially seemed to adore her in the way his manner was suddenly relaxed, which never _ever_ happened. He noted the way Fili's lips kept twitching into a grin and wondered if it was because secretly the blonde had longed for a sister to care for.

"Whats her name?!" they asked in unison.

Dis and Karen gazed thoughtfully at one another until he dipped his head, indicating that she say what they had earlier discussed before the child had been born.

"Kara." She announced proudly as everyone in the room made noises of agreement. "Her name is Kara."

* * *

_5 years later_

"The wizard is coming." Dis told Thorin in excitement. "His name is Gandalf the Grey. Have you heard of him?"

Thorin frowned and shook his head. "No. But Dis she's five years old and nothing has happened to raise alarm. Do you really still think it to be necessary?"

Dis nodded. "I want to be sure. And we've had orcs attack because they are looking for her to make more evil as word has reached the ears of beings further than our kin by now; they are _looking._ We can't let that happen, Thorin."

He nodded in agreement, smiling over at his nephews and niece. "I know." He thought about them deeply for a moment; Fili had grown a fair amount and was maturing a lot which wasn't expected at his age, and a protective streak permanently rested somewhere inside of him, but he would never miss out on the opportunity to play with his two mischievous little siblings. Kili was that of an idiot and always got his little sister and quite often older brother tied up in some reckless scheme, but Thorin admired how he would take the blame for everything, even on the rare occasion when something wasn't his fault, and how he would always succeed in lightening the mood, sometimes just by walking into a room. And then there was his little niece - he loved her to bits, and she reminded himself of him for there was a fiery, fierce area inside of her whilst she was also soft and lovely and Thorin had no doubt in his mind that she would become a lethal warrior in her future years. In all honesty he had no doubt about that when it came to any of them.

Kara was running through the kitchen at this moment, dragging a wheelbarrow behind her full of plastic balls that were falling all over the floor because as she ran she was laughing hysterically and jostling it with her jumping. Fili was behind her chasing her a lot slower that he could go to make her feel faster and also give her a game, just like he knew she loved and he was giggling at her excitement. She was about to round the corner when her other brother jumped out and she squealed in exhilaration, abruptly halting in her tracks.

"Kili!"

The brunette squatted down and she jumped into him, knocking both onto the floor. She attempted to tackle him and he let her knock him onto his back, pinning him down where he then threw his hands in the air. "I surrender!" he exclaimed with a grin as Kara grinned victoriously and rolled off of him, Fili coming over to join them with a smile glued on his countenance.

Dis then cleared her throat and so the three whipped their heads around and ended their play for a moment, understanding that this meant pay attention. They reminded Thorin of soldiers in an army, reinforcing how he knew they would be perfect in war some day. "Me and your father have to go and visit somebody who resides in Bree at this moment." She announced. "Thorin has agreed to watch you until then. Can you be good for him?"

"Of course." The ten year old blonde answered.

"Who is it, mama?" Kara questioned.

She shrugged at her daughter. "You will see if he agrees to come here."

"Is it a pirate?" Kili questioned. "Tell me its a pirate."

"Or a hunter." Fili offered.

"None of the above." Dis chuckled. "You will see."

* * *

It was the sound of a door being kicked that awoke Kara.

She slowly shifted in her bed and sat up, eyes flying open. The girl considered waking up her brothers or uncle and decided to do so. She slowly turned the handle to her uncle's room and clambered onto the bed, prodding his legs but he didn't shift. "Uncle?" She asked and began to shake him. "Uncle?!"

The four year old's eyes widened and she slid numbly off of the bed, saddened by the thought that he didn't care enough to wake up for her. The princess startled at another loud thud and dashed into the room that her brothers shared before bounding onto one of the beds like a dog, shaking Fili hastily. He, however, wouldn't awaken. She began to panic. "Kili?" She said loudly, switching beds and tugging on the dark mane of her youngest brother who too didn't jump up to help her.

She exited the room frantically in concern that something had been done to he family and crept through the kitchen when the noise continued and stepped outside, sneaking to one of the garage doors where she knew it was coming from.

It was pitch black outside and she could feel the chill of the night air creeping up her spine as she crept on her tiptoes, wondering about what to do next. She longed for her uncle to be by her side at this moment, especially when she knelt down and peered round the corner where the wooden door was vibrating because of some force behind it.

She was about to turn and flee when it finally plummeted to the floor under the pressure, causing a shockwave of dust to emit into the air. Through the dust, however, she could make out the silhouette of the largest figure that she had ever seen in her life. He looked black though and she could detect no colour, though she supposed it was because of how dark it was outside.

She began to move back with a small yelp of terror when the face of the figure whipped in her direction and made almost a growling sound, one that she had never heard before in her small life. He continued towards her so she in turn moved further and further back until her spine was pressed against a tree and he was able to close the distance between them with minimal effort.

Her eyes widened and her breaths grew rapid as he knelt down in front of her and held onto her wrist. "Come with me, little one." The voice was deep, rumbly and completely unfamiliar, but the sound of it alone terrified her and she couldn't even make out what he looked like in the dark. Without thinking, she found herself nodding for the thought of putting up a fight and ending up with a slit throat made her stomach whirl at her young age.

He lead her by the wrist through the pitch black, tied her to what felt like a large dog and lead them away from home.

* * *

Thorin, meanwhile, was frantic. What in mahal's name were Dis and Karan going to think when he explained that he had lost their daughter in the middle of the night and he had no idea how, where she was and who was responsible?! He hadn't felt well when he had woken up this morning, having felt a throbbing migraine and it had been a lot later than he thought. He had gone to awaken his niece who he had found gone, and was now running hastily to his nephews room.

He shook Fili who stirred slightly and cracked open his eyelids, vision seeming hazy for a moment until he realised he had just woken up from a slumber.

"Uncle?" He asked Thorin who was shaking Kili who did much the same as his brother. "What time is it?"

"After lunch." The exiled king answered, gesturing for them both to hurry up.

"Is Kara awake?" Kili asked.

"I don't know where she is. Did you see her last night?"

"She's missing?" Fili asked in alarm, throwing the duvet over him and standing up on shaky legs. "And why are we up so late?"

"I have no idea." Thorin answered. "Get dressed."

He then ran down the stairs and began to search the bottom of the house, yelling for his niece. "Kara, this isn't funny!" A tiny part of him hoped she was going to dive out of the cupboards and announce that it had been a prank, but to his deepest dismay, this wish did not come true.

He noticed a piece of paper on the table and frowned, pointing to it and muttering to himself that it wasn't usually there. He picked it up and read it, stomach flipping upside down when he got to the end.

_Dollhouse_

_Bring Phoenix sword_

Thorin stared at it for a moment longer before tossing it to the side in absolute anger, knowing what the stupid orc was planning to do there. A plan clicked into place and he decided to call for backup to a couple of dwarves and hope that he could find a babysitter for the boys. He knew it would take him at least about a week to get to where he needed to go on foot, so he planned to ready his pony and ride out as soon as possible, to fix what he let happen.

* * *

Kara awoke on a bed. It was nothing interesting; a plain white bed surrounded by white walls, a white ceiling and a white floor, the only hint of decoration the cracks or the splashes of mud and these weren't even intentional.

She crawled towards the white door in terror and drew herself up onto her shaky legs before banging on the entrance as hard as she could. "Hello? Hello?! Uncle? Fili? Kili?!"

The door was swung open by a being who didn't look to be the size of the figure that she remembered seeing last night; rather he was smaller and didn't look to be the race of an orc. He was more of a man and had short hair which was unheard of in dwarves so at her young age the educated guess would be to suppose he was a man, and he had lines of what looked like paint all over his face as though he was trying to create some sort of mask to compel her, or to feel more savage...she had no idea what that was all about.

"Hello Kara." He greeted in a deep, rumbling voice. "Naomi will see you now. She's very very excited to meet you."

"Naomi?" Kara asked.

"No questions." he hissed. "The rules around here are simple; listen to what I say, follow my instructions without complaint and you will survive. I'm sure yer family has taught you how to use good manners?"

"I guess." She mumbled in a squeaky voice.

"Come."

She followed Flux left and down a long corridor with many different doors on either side of the only two walls that seemed to be in the place until they made it to the room near the very end; it appeared to be the only one with the door open and she could already see the vibrant colours of the carpet and walls.

She entered cautiously and looked around, but there was nothing present aside from a bunch of toys scattered messily all over the floor. She smiled at a cute sheep plushie and bent down to pick it up, brushing the cobwebs off of its ear. It looked so alone.

 _I miss my uncle._ She thought to herself. _I miss Fili and Kili, and mama and papa. When are they coming?_

The girl was terrified and slumped to the floor, hugging the toy close to her chest until a high pitched laugh from behind her startled her.

"Heehee. Hello Kara. My name's Naomi."

Kara stared at her for a moment; she was extremely small and wore a green daisy flower headband over her long dark brown locks that reminded her a lot of Kili, had bright blue orbs, dark eyebrows and her outfit was a black and white stripy top with black tights and a black skirt underneath.

"Hello." Kara whispered, almost inaudibly as the girl in front of her laughed.

"You're so cute!"

Kara decided the best take on the situation that confused her to no end was to use good manners and be polite, like her mother had always taught her. "You are too; I like your headband."

Naomi laughed that creepy, high pitched laugh again that for some reason sent a shiver up Kara's spine. "Fluxy boo, she is so, so cute! Can I keep her for me? Please, Fluxy boo, please?"

"Of course. You can have anything you want."

"Um, keep me?" Kara asked in confusion. "I'm my own person, I'm not a doll or anything. We can be friends but, I mean..."

"I'm so happy you're here!" Naomi interrupted with an excited squeal as she reached a hand forward to curl one of Kara's locks in her finger, making her feel slightly unnerved. "I think we're going to be really best friends."

Kara frowned. "But I need to get back to my other family."

Naomi tilted her head. "But you're other family left you. They didn't wake up when you needed them; if you go back it will be the same when you're older. You'll be dead in the space of thirty minutes."

"I don't think that's true!" Kara argued. "Fili and Kili love me; they're the best siblings I could ask for, if you're my new sister then you can come back to the cottage and meet them."

Naomi squeakily giggled. "Oh Kara. Silly little Kara. Tell me more; I want to hear everything about your brothers."

"Ok." Kara smiled at the topic. "Fili has blonde hair and bright blue eyes and he takes care of me all of the time, best big brother I could ask for! He stops me from dying most of the time. Kili is older than me but younger than Fili and It's my favourite thing ever when we play, even though one of us always gets hurt. He has dark hair and brown eyes. I love them both to bits Naomi, and I promise if you come and meet them you would love them too!"

Naomi laughed. "I will never meet them."

Kara furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"Because they will never come here and I'm not leaving my home! Now play with me and you will get dinner tonight. Remember, you're my favourite Kara."

The girl swallowed the tears that she knew were coming and nodded. Something in the back of her mind told her not to anger this child. "Ok. What do you want to do?"

"Look around." Came the answer. "Find us a plushie."

Kara shakily dipped her head and began to rummage through the draws, pulling out many different random items and throwing them onto the floor in a pile. She pulled out a ring with a bunch of keys on and frowned, showing them to Naomi who's head fired up.

"Leave them alone, sissy." She bit out. Kara raised her hands defensively and put them back in that draw before kicking them all closed, not saying anything more of the matter. The next two items that made her frown were the only two things in the bottom draw. One was a beautiful red stone; she ran a finger over it, admiring its beauty as Naomi watched her intently. She then observed the other one - it looked like a glue gun base with a needle sticking out of the end.

"What are these?" She questioned, seating herself in front of the girl with her legs crossed.

Naomi reached forward and grabbed at the stone. "This belongs in a sword. It's supposed to torture people." She whispered, cocking her head in admiration before drawing her eyes up creepily to meet Kara's who gulped.

"Oh." Came the small response.

"And this is a device. My mummy gave it to me - she was the witch that made it and I've been trying to find the right person to try it out on first. If it works I'll have a clone of someone who is my favourite. I'll have more toys!"

Kara swallowed, remembering Naomi's earlier words. _Remember, you're my favourite Kara._

_Oh, she wanted her mama._

"That person isn't me, right?" She was honestly scared to ask.

"Of course not, silly!" Came the conformation as Kara sighed in relief. "But we can do it on someone else in case you get bored of staying here."

"But I'm not staying here! My family are going to come and get me."

"You're choosing them over me?"

"I love them!" She blurted. "And I met you about an hour ago!"

Naomi's temper flared. "Flux!" She screamed, Kara slamming a hand over her ears at the surprisingly loud sound.

The person being called entered the room and grabbed the startled princess by the arm before dragging her out. Kara had a moment to glimpse around the place - there was a long corridor yet she could see the end, and could also see many doors along both walls but looking the other way there was generally nothing. The end door was the front door, she supposed. It was nothing new from what she had seen earlier. There were also pictures along the wall but there only seemed to be two styles; one was Naomi staring up at the camera in her usual black and white top and the other was a different girl with the same flower headband as Naomi but her hair was bright blonde and her eyes were bright blue. In all honesty, she looked a lot more pleasant than Naomi.

The sound of a heavy door crashing open entered her ears and she peered up, wriggling in his grip as she watched the heavy, thick door slowly close by itself. She was dragged down about seven steps until the sound of a metal door banging open also came and she was on some sort of freezing cold floor in the space of a second, wearily watching Flux storm up the steps and out of the door.

She blinked. _What the..._

"Hey, I'm Raven." A voice interrupted her and she jumped, spinning to her left where through the bars she could see a little dwarfling, about her age, in another cage. Realisation hit her and her eyes began to dart around the place, realising that there was a whole row of cages, two rows (there were some above, on top of the ones the bottom) each one containing a child. Raven frowned at her when she stayed silent. "Did you make Naomi mad too? She didn't like it when I wouldn't play with her so she put me in here, but I don't like it in here. I want to go back to the orphanage!"

Kara spun to him and observed the little lad. He had dark raven hair so she supposed the name fit, and two bright red eyes that made her grimace slightly. "You came from an orphanage?"

"I did." He confirmed.

"Why did they bring you here?"

"They think I'm evil. Everyone in here has red eyes. Except Lana, of course."

"How do we get out of here?"

"We've tried so many things. It never works. Our families never came. I'm sorry, but you're stuck here."

"My family will come." Kara snapped, a tiny part of her doubting what she had just said. _Did they really love her? Was Naomi right?_ Maybe this is what they wanted for her; maybe she deserved to be trapped in this filthy place. It truly was disgusting; looking out she could see cobwebs in practically every inch of the room along with a bunch of boxes dumped messily in random places and she wondered why nobody would clean them, unless this was their idea of decoration because there was nothing else in here except an eerie dead silence, and misery.

"I'm sorry for my snapping." She whispered. "You didn't do anything. You're stuck here too." She then twirled around and faced the other cell where a little girl sat with long blonde hair and a flower headband. She noticed at this moment that everybody she had met so far appeared to be a dwarf, but they all looked so un-dwarfy, just like she did, but then again she was only the tiny age of five and her brothers always told her that she had a lot of growing to do. It made her feel better that Kili didn't looked very dwarf like either.

"I, hello, I know you, how do I know you, where do I know you from?" She frowned as she tried to remember until the remembrance eventually struck her. "Wait no, you are from those pictures upstairs! You know Naomi!"

"You must be new here." The girl answered. Kara could tell by her size and the shape of her ears that she _was_ a dwarf, but almost looked to be a mix of something else too. "Naomi gets tired of her toys very quickly. But mummy brings us bread every day. You'll get used to it."

"Wait, I...I'm a but confused. Why are you down here? Are you Naomi's sister?"

"I'm her big sister, Lana. But she was very jealous of me. We used to live in a big house but one night Naomi set the whole place on fire and we ran away because our mum and dad died in the flames, and we met an orc on the run who took us, noticing that Naomi had two red eyes so she was evil and he liked her evilness so he got Flux to find more and trap them down here whilst Naomi kept the cloning device safe. She's a very smart child is my little sister. He also wants the phoenix sword which Thorin Oakenshield has so he can add the stone and trap the Durin Line in it to beat Azog who just wants to kill them."

"I'm Thorin's niece!" Kara exclaimed.

"You are?" She asked in surprise.

"Me and my brothers live at home but I think they think I'm evil because I have a little red in my eye and I guess that's why Garluk brought me down here because he thinks I'm like you guys but I'm not evil, I'm good, you know what I mean?"

"Maybe they're just using you as bait to lure Thorin here and trade you for the phoenix sword." Raven suggested as the realisation hit her at the truth of that statement.

"Maybe you're right! We can't...no, we can't stand for this! We can't let them bully us, I am going to get all of you out of here, just wait!"

"Shh." Lana hissed suddenly. "Flux is coming."

Kara smiled at the opportunity and ran to the door, gripping the bars with two little hands. "Hello Flux, I need to talk to you because there must be some sort of mistake or something going on as I didn't mean to make Naomi sad or mad or anything. I just thought my uncle was going to come and I wanted to see him. You have to understand that, but I'll do whatever it takes to make things right again between me and Naomi, I promise, I _promise_ to be good if you just let me out of here, please Flux!" She begged.

"I need to ask Naomi, but she seems to have taken a particular liking to you."

"I really really love Naomi too, that is why this is so upsetting for me, Flux, to be down here I thought me and Naomi were really good friends, and you know what? She is like a sister to me too, she really really is."

Flux nodded and opened her cage, throwing her some bread before doing the same to the other cages and then departing.

"Ok, listen to my plan everybody, Flux will go upstairs and tell Naomi I love her which I promise is a lie but we need to lie to get out and then when she lets me out I will come down here when everyone is asleep and help you all get out. I think I know where the keys are."

The kids all cheered as Lana sighed. "We've tried so many times to escape; it's impossible. But thank you for wanting to try. Oh shh, I think Flux is coming back."

"Kara!" The man called, swinging open her cage. "Come with me."

"Coming Flux, I'm coming!" She called as she stepped out of the open door.

"Good luck." one of the boys murmured as she tilted her head at him. Now _he_ was definitely a man. "I'm Bain by the way."

She smiled at him, liking the look of his curly locks before jolting back to reality. She didn't think she had ever seen other breeds before. "I promise I'll be back for you." She whispered before running up the stairs after him. "Naomi." She entered the familiar bright room and stared at the little girl who had her arms crossed, staring Kara dead in the eyes. "Hello."

She did her creepy little laugh and tilted her head. "That guy you think is coming, he is your uncle?"

"Yes, that was my uncle his name is Thorin and he was the king of Erebor and my mummy's name is Dis and daddy is called Karan, and then I have my brothers Fili and Kili who are my best...uh, no, you're my best friend Naomi, you."

"But if you're really my sister then you shouldn't have your own mummy and daddy and siblings."

"But they're my family." She replied with a frown. "I mean, I can't really change that..."

"If you want to be my sister you need to say goodbye to all of them."

"But how can I do that if you won't let me see them again?"

She did her giggle and shook her head. "Oh, Kara, you need to write them a letter and tell them that you have found a new family and never want to see them again. They left you, wouldn't even wake up when you needed them. They don't love you."

"How do you know that?" She spat before realising that her plan wasn't going to work if she argued. "I mean, ok Naomi I'll go write the letter straight away."

She plodded away in sadness. Even if she was right, Kara was determined to see her family again and ask them herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the darkness outside, Thorin continued to ride his pony with his companions following along behind. He knew the orc who was responsible, having watched him and Azog fight which was rare - orc and orc as enemies was unheard of. Then Thorin himself killed Azog so he wondered what still made the orc so mad. Why would he want to destroy his kin if he only wanted to to beat Azog who died? Then again, Thorin supposed, he was an orc.

Dwalin and Balin rode behind, Fili and Kili asleep in Balin's arms. A part of Thorin had worried that the orcs would attack whilst he wasn't there and take his nephews too, and without the time to think of a plan he had reluctantly brought them along for the ride.

Bofur, Nori, Gloin, Bifur and Oin also rode with them nearer to the back. Thorin was thankful for the amount of loyalty and kindness his friends truly showed him.

Even in the midst of crisis, they had each other.

* * *

**Ummmm, yeah!**

**So Naomi is a lil bit of a psycho as you can probably tell, as are Flux and the darn orc but, ya know, that's the point! There are multiple reasons for the babies being captured to be honest, because they want to clone them and Garlek wants to keep Naomi working for him by satisfying her with many toys whilst he creates his little army of weapons, we could call them.**

**And about the oc's - the ones we meet, which will only be like three, might show up again in the future but the rest are just there with red eyes but otherwise that no apparent reason. They aren't all dwarves, some of them are men and there's one or two elves, but that doesn't really matter. And yes, you saw the name Bain in there ;)**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	2. Traumatic

Kara had a routine going by the time a week had gone by. She would spend a long, drooling morning doing her assigned chores which seemed to be the same everyday. She was beginning to think that when she was asleep Flux would come down and purposely make spider webs for her to brush off and add more dust for her to clean. Either way, it gave her a chance to continue what she had been working on. Behind the boxes that she had piled in the corner she had began to create a small tunnel with a pickaxe that she had found in one the boxes. After talking with the other children Lana had said she was certain that if she did dig a tunnel it would lead into the backyard and they would be able to jump over the fences and run away. It was a long shot, but after realising that her family wouldn't come for her she was willing to try anything at this point.

Then, in the more interesting afternoons, she would sit in the annoyingly bright bedroom with Naomi, doing nothing in all honesty. They would play with her toys and Naomi would drool about how much she loved having Kara as a sister and quite often asked about Fili and Kili and sometimes her uncle. She was perfectly happy to explain because it made her feel as though she hadn't lost them forever and made sure not to talk about them in past tense, but Naomi was fishing a little too much for her liking and she wasn't sure why. However, if her plan was going to work she would have to continue to pretend to love being the sister that the psycho seemed to adore so she wouldn't result in getting locked in a cage, and hopefully the tunnel would come to an end soon and they could leave the foul place.

On this specific day, however, she found that digging away the wood with her pickaxe had finally met dirt. It meant that she was nearly out of there, having met the terrain under the ground and she presumed that she could just use her hands to dig upwards. Although, if they were soon to be out of here there was a catch; Raven and Lana were both missing from their cages, a discovery she had made this morning when she awoke from her uncomfortable slumber and none of the other children seemed to know where they were. She didn't think she had ever been this concerned about anyone.

The girl constantly considered creeping up to see where they were but presumed that Flux would be on constant guard, and at the other kids in the room yelling at her not to she decided against it.

That lunch though, Raven returned and got thrown into his cage, blood on his face and marks all over his neck and arms, blotches of dirt and blood mixed together to make almost a pattern.

"Raven?" She asked in horror once Flux had left. "What in mahal's name happened to you?!"

"He tortured me." The dwarfling whispered, almost inaudibly before sighing in defeat. "Last time it was worse though, he gave me a broken arm."

"Who?" Kara interrogated angrily.

"Garlek. He was the orc that brought me here. I got taken to his camp outside in the forest."

Kara blinked. She had honestly not even thought about who brought _her_ here; she had presumed Flux, but thinking about it he was nowhere near the size of the figure that she remembered and now visualised in her head. "Are you ok? Was Lana with you?"

"No. I don't know where she is."

Kara swallowed her concern and inhaled deeply. "Ok. I will find her, don't worry."

"Kara!"

"I'm supposed to be doing chores." She whispered urgently when she heard Flux yell her name. She darted across the room and grabbed the broom, pretending to be prodding at a huge cobweb in the corner.

"Naomi has requested to see you. Go to her room, nowhere else."

"Ok." Kara answered in a high-pitched squeak before following Flux up the stairs who tore away into one of the rooms. She stepped slowly down the corridor, keeping her eyes peeled for Lana but when she didn't see her friend she entered the familiar room where Naomi was stood waiting, just like she always was.

"Hey." Kara greeted.

Naomi did her freakish little giggle once again that made Kara's ears want to shrivel up and die. "Kara! Fluxy boo says you have been a very good girl doing your chores downstairs, and so I have a special job for you."

"That's exciting!" Kara exclaimed falsely. "What is it?"

"I need you to take a shovel from one of the boxes, go outside into the yard and dig me a grave."

Kara's heart fell out of her skin.

"A grave?" She asked for conformation, voice wobbling in terror. "Why would I...why would I do that? Whose grave is it?"

"None of your business, sissy." She snapped. "Chop chop."

Kara swallowed and nodded. "Ok..." She exited the room stricken with guilt for whomever Naomi was about to bury, hoping with everything in her that it wasn't Lana. The girl went to the the box in which she had found the pickaxe and spotted the item. She pulled out a shovel and Flux opened the door for her and lead the way to the front so she exited onto the yard and began to dig a hole. "I'm too small for this." She whimpered to herself. "I'm too small for any of this. I can't do it. I don't deserve this." She continued to dig up the ground until she was standing at full body height in it. She did one more prod with the shovel but it went straight through the ground and she could feel it in an area of no dirt, just hollow air. She frowned, scooping up a little dirt underneath her which collapsed down a hole and she realised, with as much luck as a four leaf clover, that it was the hole from the tunnel that she had been digging. If she stood in the tunnel she could jump out. "It leads here." She murmured in excitement. "We can...we can get out of here!"

"Did you do it?" A high pitched voice asked from somewhere across the lawn and she gasped, not wanting Naomi to see the hole and she jumped and clambered out of it.

"Um, yes, Naomi I've dug the grave for you!"

"Good girl." Naomi praised, leaning against the fence. "Now go to the second door on the left and into the wardrobe where you will find a headstone. Bring it to me."

"Ok Naomi." She paused. "Um, any chance _I_ can put the headstone on?"

Naomi giggled and tilted her head in wonder. "You want to bury someone with me?"

"Yes! How about tomorrow? I'll go and get you the headstone now, put it at the head of the grave and then tomorrow we can bury somebody! How does that sound?"

"I make the rules around here." She suddenly snapped. Kara was still shocked at how much Naomi's mood could change in the space of a second. "But I like this idea. We'll do it, but later I'll have to let you in on a little secret about who we're burying."

"Ok." She replied, a shiver tricking up her spine but she did was was requested, thinking of the other poor children in the cages like trapped animals. She would get them out tonight; through the tunnel. She just had to get the keys out of Naomi's draw without her noticing.

She followed her fake sister into the bedroom where she seated herself, fiddling with the sheep plushie as Naomi drew on the board in red pen.

"I'm hungry." Kara moaned.

Naomi dropped the pen and turned to her. "You've been such a good girl today." She observed with a creepy head tilt. "I'm sure Fluxy boo won't mind if I get you a poisoned cookie."

"A poisoned cookie?" Kara asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"It's better than bread, is it not?"

"It is." Kara agreed immediately. "Ok, Naomi, please do that. I think my stomach might explode."

The moment Naomi was out of the room Kara, in one swift movement, was at the draws and flung open the bottom one before grabbing the keys with a sense of victoriousness. She stuffed them in the pocket of her hoodie and ran back to the sheep, stroking it's head when Naomi re-entered and threw the cookie at her.

"Eat this." She ordered.

"Is it really poisoned?" Kara questioned skeptically.

Naomi giggled her evil giggle and sat down in front of her. "Let me let you in on the little secret. Your uncle is on his way here with the phoenix sword to give away but by the time he gets here I'll have cloned you and you'll be in your grave."

Kara blinked in realisation. "You're going to kill me?" She asked calmly, though inside she wanted to scream in terror. She was scared; she wanted her family. Half of the time she felt like such a wimp but when she really thought about her situation she realised how smart she was generally being. She was sure her uncle would be proud; she had some bad traits - clumsy, stubborn, lazy, but she wasn't stupid. No. Kara was far, _far_ from stupid.

"Oh sissy." Naomi reached forward and touched the side of Kara's face, tilting her own head like a mother to her upset husband. "Don't make me out to be the enemy."

"But what if you are the enemy?"

"That's for me to decide and you to dot dot dot. Now go down and enjoy your last night of living, my favourite."

 _Ok,_ Kara thought bitterly as she awkwardly exited the room without bothering to wave a friendly goodbye like she usually did, Naomi's evil smile plastered on her face that would pass of as friendly if it weren't for the malevolent glint shining brightly in her red eyes. _I'll show you enjoying my last night of living._

She numbly told Flux that she was going to clean the cobwebs off of the walls and would come upstairs to get him when she was finished so that he could lock her in her cell to sleep which he didn't seem to find suspicious. She seized this opportunity to meddle with the keys after waiting about twenty minutes and ran along the line, hissing for the kids to shut up as she unlocked their cells and they piled out, gagging for the change in air that wasn't the damp gloomy particles that resided in their cells, even though it wasn't very much different.

She also drew Lana into a tight embrace when she noticed the lass was back in her cell, looking slightly shaken but also excited at the events were happening at this moment. Events she had longed for for years. "Are you ok?" Kara asked in concern. "What happened?"

"It was just another of Naomi's games. She locked me in the attic - please don't worry about me. We've got to leave. Now."

"Listen to me!" Kara then hissed as they all fell silent and huddled into a big rubble. Kara glanced at the thick heavy door and for once was happy that it blocked out a whole lot of sound that would get them caught in an instant. "Flux and Naomi are both upstairs sleeping and if they catch us we'll be doomed. Follow me out of the tunnel which leads into the yard where we will have to climb out of the hole and over the fence and I don't know the plan from there, but we will just run. Two of them won't be able to capture all of us again."

"What about Garluk?" Raven spoke up. "He made camp outside, I was there."

"Where?" Kara asked.

"I don't know, it was behind the house."

"So we don't run that way." She decided as she pulled out the many boxes that hid the work that she had been doing. "Hurry up, come on!"

One by one the children entered the tunnel as she hustled them down, shooting constant glances to the heavy door that continued to hide a lot of sound with its density and for once she was grateful for something in this vile place. They clambered clumsily out of the hole, leapt over the fence and ran like they had never ran before. She could hear screaming behind her but continued to sprint, legs pounding beneath her whilst she continued to scream at them to not stop moving.

Suddenly though, someone grabbed her arm after they had been running for about five minutes and because she was at the back the others were able to divide away into the trees without being caught.

When she looked dreadfully into the eyes of her capturer, it wasn't what she expected.

The biggest orc she had ever seen held her threateningly by the arm, growling which bared his disgusting, rickety teeth that she really didn't want to see. His face was marked with cracks and scars that looked natural if she was honest. There had been orc attacks on her village before and she had caught glimpses of them, recognizing that they were tall and unbelievably ugly, but looking this close ino the face of one made her want to throw up. "Scum." he hissed.

She began to inhale in terror, wobbling and she could feel the goosebumps forming on her skin. She gained a sudden burst of energy and screamed, stepping back and tripping over her feet to unintentionally make her fall to the ground. He released her as she fell and towered over her as she scrambled back in the leaves, staring up at his devilish smile with wide, terrified eyes, ready to release another scream but this time for help when another familiar voice interrupted her.

"Kara!"

"Uncle?" She asked, whipping her head to the side as he, Dwalin, Balin and her brothers slid off of a couple of ponies. "Uncle!"

The orc glared at Oakenshield as Kara jumped up, ran over and leapt into his arms which held her close and rocked her in absolute relief, eyeing the orc with a glare that could burn your skin who smirked at the scene with his arms crossed. Thorin sighed and placed his sobbing niece on the ground who was drawn back by another pair of arms that held her close. She peered up at Fili who rocked her slowly.

"It's ok." he whispered as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. "You're safe now."

Kili stood in front of the two like a shield, not wanting to hear the scene going on behind him come to an end. He was mad beyond words and knew Fili was as well; they promised to protect their sibling! Not let her go through whatever she had which they presumed was hell.

As Fili attempted to comfort his shaking and whimpering sibling Garluk drew his sword and started towards Thorin who in turn drew his own sword, shooting a glance at Balin who hid the phoenix sword behind his back. "Where is it?" the orc hissed.

"In a place where you won't get your hands on it." Thorin answered. He had only brought it in case his niece has been threatened, but he was planning on doing anything to not let this evil get his grimy hands on it.

The orc scoffed disbelievingly and striked with his sword at Thorin who dodged with ease before swinging it around in his hand and ducking another blow whilst thrusting it forward, but the orc also seemed to have a good reaction time and blocked it also. The other dwarves growled and Dwalin started forward in preparation to help when suddenly a bunch more orcs tore from the bushes out of literally nowhere, sending every dwarf there into high alert as all drew their weapons and began the battle.

Kili began to step back as the battle grew wilder, Fili with his hand on his sister's chest to gently guide her backwards too and hopefully away from the chaos. They were forced to jump to the side though when they heard a rustle in the bushes behind them and worried that it was another enemy with their sword raised about to stab them, but instead it was a guy who darted into the area at an alarming speed with what Kara recognized as the cloning device in his hand which he waved about frantically.

"Where are those littluns?!" he yelled in question. "Where did they all go?"

"They got away!" Garlek snarled as he kicked Thorin's shin who grunted slightly at the impact. "Failure!"

Flux shook his head in absolute fury and turned to Kara, Fili and Kili immediately stepping in front of her and putting their hands on her shoulders to push her back even more as she stared at him with wide eyes.

"Why you little..."

"Give it up, Flux!" Dwalin yelled from the side. "That stupid thing wouldn't have worked anyway!"

"Oh yeah?" Flux glared at him before reaching and grabbing the arm of the nearest child to him before stabbing the pin into that child's skin.

Kili suddenly let out a short yell in pain and collapsed forward onto the floor, elder dwarves surroudning him to pick him up by the arms. "Help me get him to sit down!" Oin yelled in alarm as a couple of dwarves rushed to do so, seating the brunette against a tree who stared ahead in shock.

"I never wanna feel like that again." He whimpered in distress. "It felt like my whole life was being sucked out of me."

The battle was still paused, every contestant in it looking around to see if anything had occurred as a result of Flux's actions. Half of them were horrified to find nothing had happened and half of them were relieved to find that nothing happened, and Dwalin, despite having yelled it to wind the man up and make him feel bad, appeared to be right. Flux's cheeks flushed at the realisation that it didn't work so his fingers uncurled from around it and it fell onto the ground.

Fili released his sister for a moment and fell onto his hands and knees before grabbing at the device, realising that it was one of the reasons his sister had been captured and stood up, stamping on it as hard as he could with his stubborn yet strong little feet and after only three jumps the needle fell out of its gun and the liquid inside it poured out, spreading out over the ground and dissolving into the dirt and the leaves.

"You did not." Flux hissed as Fili shrugged.

"It didn't work."

"Oh, you are daring for a child!" The man screamed as he started forward, Gloin jumping in front to protect the blonde who pretended not to be absolutely terrified at this moment.

Thorin sighed and turned back around, determined to finish the orc off once and for all for he deserved a death more than words could say, but he was gone.

Thorin frowned and looked around as the battle continued, scanning the area for an orc slightly larger than the others although it was hard because they did all look practically identical. He looked in concern over to his niece who was nowhere in sight and he could have kicked himself so hard for falling for the distraction. "Garlek!" He roared, pushing his way through the battle and slashing wildly at any orc that dare to cross his path as Fili drew back whilst Gloin held off the furious lad, Kili's cheeks burning red as he squinted his eyes, resisting the urge to vomit whilst attempting to locate Kara in the blur.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kara wriggled and squirmed in the strong grip of the orc as he snarled at her. "That little girl won't be happy to learn that one of the brothers that you rub in her face destroyed what she powered." Garlek hissed as he stopped her from screaming by clamping a hand tightly over her mouth. "Or that you released every one of her toys." Kara squealed behind his mouth, the sounds coming out as pain-filled muffles. "We are going back in there and you are going to learn how to follow simple instru..." he didn't finish his sentence as a sharp pain enterted his side and he grunted at the impact, releasing the girl in his hands before his small groans turned to an angry roar of pain.

She plummeted to the ground in surprise although she embraced the interruption until she peered up on all fours to see her father with his sword raised, a determined gleam of a spark dancing in his eye.

"No you won't."

"Papa?" She demanded in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Kara, go back to your uncle." He ordered sharply as he glared at Garlek.

"But..."

"Now." He hissed to his daughter whose eyes widened and she found herself nodding at his urgency and the slight plea that she could detect was laced into the demand. The princess, with a wave of determination to please her father, scrambled back before stepping to her feet and began to cross through the trees with absolutely no sense of direction. However, she did see an orc fighting with her uncle in the near distance through a couple of trees and shrank back, looking around for her brothers who were nowhere in sight.

She began to panic and made a sound of distress before turning sharply to the right and running that way. She spotted Fili being held back by Gloin as Flux yelled at them although she couldn't hear what he was saying over the sound of battle as Oin tried to keep Kili down up who looked as though he was trying to search for something with his eyes. She sighed in relief and began to run that way until an orc stepping in front of her blocked her path. However he didn't notice her as he was facing the other way in a scrap with Bofur. She wasn't sure how to creep through the battle without being spotted so she shrank back and hid behind a bush, completely unsure what to do.

And then came the horrifying, traumatizing pain-filled scream.

She whimpered in horror as a couple of orcs spun around to face her; Thorin noticed this and grabbed their attention, engaging them in war as Kara sprinted back to where she had previously been, berating herself over and over again for leaving although she supposed at her young age she couldn't have exactly picked up a sword and fought the orc herself.

She knew exactly who made the noise and wished she had only dreamt it - that her father was not in fact lying face up on the floor with a deadly gash slit across his chest, the blood pouring out like water out of a fountain.

"No." She whispered numbly, falling onto her knees by her father's side, not believing that this was actually happening. She saw his bloody face and suddenly burst into tears as her stomach churned and before she could stop herself she fell forward onto her knees and retched.

"Kara. Kara. It will be okay sweetie...shhh." Her father's warm voice met her ears and her eyes developed heartbroken tears as she wailed, her water drops landing on his exposed, bloody chest when she looked up at the thought that he was still alive and speaking to her. "Kara, it will be okay."

"Don't die, papa. Please." She begged, sniffing as she held his hand in her own shivering one.

"Little one, I love you. I love you more than words can say. Kara, my sweet Kara." He reached up a shaking arm and undid a clip. He then pressed his locket into her trembling hands. "I love you. I love all of you. Tell them that, tell your mother, your brothers..." The light left his eyes in a sudden moment and for a second, everything around her seemed to float in an unrealistic reality.

She was there for what felt like years.

Sobbing.

Until strong arms enveloped her as she clutched the locket with hard fingers, body racking with cries.

Fili seemed to understand the situation and hung his head, head pressed against Thorin's stomach in grief whilst Kili's wide and curious eyes stared in confusion as he cocked his head to the side. Thorin held out an arm and Kili walked into it, slowly beginning to weep as the realisation of the situation hit him and he buried his face into Thorin's shoulder.

Kara was completely traumatized as her tears flowed out like a constant waterfall whilst Thorin whispered soothing words in her ear, unsure how to calm his distressed little niece. She wanted to go home; she wanted to imagine that this had all been a dream.

But it hadn't.

She was too young for this; she was too young to even meet orcs, she was too young to do chores and by mahal she was too young to watch her father die.

But she had.

* * *

Thorin now sat around their dining table with a couple of his friends, a steaming cup of well earned tea in front of all of them though nobody made any move to drink the drinks. He just held it in his hands, relishing in the comforting feeling that the warmth emitting from the mug offered him.

Dis was in bed; she had broken down, racking with consistent wails as Thorin attempted to comfort her. She had blamed herself, having sent Karan because she had to stay and discuss important matters with the wizard. Kara was wrapped up in a thousand quilts asleep in her bed which Thorin honestly hoped she could stay in forever; if she woke up the reality would really hit all of them. Both brothers had been unnaturally quiet about the whole ordeal though Thorin wasn't surprised; Fili had held his sister close with an expression of upset on his face whilst Kili just looked sick and unnaturally pale.

"I don't know where to start." Thorin whispered, surprised at how quiet his voice was.

"Why did they do it?" Dwalin asked.

"That girl sounds utterly vile. One of the girls that Kara was trapped with was able to relay a lot of things about her; all in all she is making an army of evil clones for her own toys and for Garlek so that he can overthrow one of my old enemies for power, because they seem to think orcs aren't good enough against the force that their opponents are offering."

"Do you have any idea who that could be?" Oin interrogated for all of them after a small stretch of silence.

Thorin's fists curled around his mug even tighter and he struggled to spit out the word. "Azog." Every instinct to fight suddenly awakened within him as he blood boiled at even thinking about the name.

Dwalin shoved his chair back and stood up, banging the table with a hard fist. "That creature is dead!"

"He is." Thorin agreed, though a tiny part inside of him questioned this statement. But it sounded ridiculous to think that he could still be alive, but...

_Could Azog really still be tormenting middle earth?_

"What of Kara, Oin?" Thorin asked to change the subject.

Oin sighed, looking utterly exhausted. "She will live. Gandalf managed to get rid of the red eye whilst she was sleeping; now there's a little white hair streak but I think it goes well with the lassie's red locks. No more orcs should be attacking here. She's a little banged up with bruises but she's gonna be fine. It's the mental wounds; she's still in shock from..." He paused, looking at how much Thorin's face dipped. "You know..."

"I do. We sent all of the other children home after Gandalf zapped them; even if they managed to make another cloning thing there would be no more evil left to clone. He made a cure after trying on Kara so it's only her that ended up with the streak in her hair. A couple of them were men though and we had to get escorts to deliver them back to whence they came. One of the girls is Naomi's older sister and she explained everything: Kara saved them all."

"One so young shouldn't have to suffer such evil." Balin whispered.

"Garlek and Naomi...and Flux are still out there."

"We'll find them." Thorin spoke up immediately. "They have the phoenix stone _and_ sword now, we have to find them or that smart child will figure out how to power it like she did with the blasted cloning device."

"Which your nephew also destroyed; Naomi will really have it out for us all now." Bofur observed with a sad frown.

"Which is why we must find her." Thorin concluded.

"What about Kili?" Gloin suddenly asked. "He got stabbed with the pin."

"It didn't work." Thorin declared.

"Aye, but that means that maybe it's all false; maybe the two items left by her mother don't work so maybe the phoenix stone is all a lie."

"Either way I want justice." Thorin hissed. "And she has nothing else magical apart from the stone from the cursed witch so she can't do anything."

"How did she even get the sword?" Dori questioned.

"It was all a blur." Was the small response. "But in all honesty, I have absolutely no idea."

* * *

Naomi did her creepy little walk to Garlek who lay, wrapping the area where his finger had been hacked off by that stupid dwarf's sword. He growled when he saw her walk over to him. "You let them escape. Our plan is ruined; go back to your own kin."

"It's not." She argued, revealing something that she had hidden behind her back. The phoenix sword. That caught his attention.

"You are the one that failed, father; you didn't capture them when they ran out. I have no play toys now, and I can't produce anymore. That girl and her stupid family _ruined_ my life!"

"We did make one." Garlek argued before standing up. "Get people on your side; anyone, littlun, we will get our revenge. We may just have to wait a little while."

Naomi nodded and looked out through the trees in disgust. _I will find that girl._

 **"Send word to the pale orc."** He ordered in black speech to his army of few orcs remaining. **"Tell him he's out to lose."**

* * *

**I wrote this half asleep and when I proof read I had to read each line about ten times to understand them, so I have no idea if it makes sense. Please point out any mistakes!**

**Anyways, the evil people are mad now! Oh no! Also what do you think Garlek meant when he said 'we did make one'? And what do you think the point of this whole start was? Feel free to guess!  
**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	3. A Fight

Kili glared daggers at the children that were lounging casually on their couch, watching their television as he struggled to push the lobsters that they had demanded for dinner into the oven, heat immediately wafting out and into the aroma. He then glared at his brother who was staring a book, and Kili thought that he might as well have been a third child.

Fili looked up from where his gaze was fixed and winked when he saw Kili looking at him who scowled and looked away. The two children that sat on the couch were named Gavin and Katie, and had caused him issues for the last two hours, resulting in Fili predominantly giving up. Kili was more so irritated that at this moment in time he was supposed to be out hunting with his brother, whilst his little sister got gifted the absolute _joy_ of babysitting these two bratty dwarflings, but she was nowhere to be seen, and Kili knew, no matter how much he yearned to, that he couldn't exactly just leave two imprudent dwarflings alone, especially in the property of an exiled king.

"This is such a small screen." Katie whined. Her brother continuously nodded in agreement from his position sat next to her.

"What do you mean?" Kili asked in exasperation. "It's a fifty inch TV!"

"Yeah, we've seen one that small before." Gavin stated, staring at it as if it had grown two heads.

"At our maid's house!" Katie added and the two children chortled with childish laughter. Kili rolled his eyes and looked back at the lobsters on the tray in his hands. _Should I poison these?_ He seriously considered this option, but realized that Thorin would _kill_ him, so he reluctantly decided against it.

"What even is this quality?" Gavin asked. "It's the worst."

Kili dropped the tray and yelled up the stairs. "Come and get these kids, Kara, they're driving me crazy!"

Fili smirked at him. "You are supposed to _enjoy_ babysitting those poor dwarflings, Kili." Fili declared pointedly, though Kili detected a spark of humor in his eyes.

"I'd enjoy it even more if you would help me." Kili hinted, and Fili shook his head.

"I'm studying." He murmured, looking back at his book and Kili rolled his eyes.

"When is our tea gonna be ready?" Gavin asked, desperation weaved into his tone.

"You put them in the oven like five hours ago." Katie complained.

Kili bit back a stern retort. "You can't ignore me!" He shouted up the stairs. Fili chuckled from his position on the couch, and Thorin entered the room. "You know, you seriously could help." Kili pointed out to his brother.

"You look like you are doing a grand job." Thorin defended Fili.

"See? Uncle knows." Fili muttered. Kili pulled the lobsters out of the oven and served them on two plates, before angrily handing them to the children.

"Enjoy." He smiled sarcastically.

"You didn't cook 'em right." Katie observed the lobster with a face of disbelief.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have rejected my chicken fingers and waffle fries."

"And we wanted cheese sauce." Gavin added.

"Kara, if you do not get your arse in here within the next two seconds you won't have an arse." Came Kili's next call. He turned around and frowned. "She could answer."

"Go and make sure she's alright." Thorin ordered. Kili sighed and ran up the stairs, knocking on his sister's closed door. "Sweetie, you in there?" When he received no answer he frowned. "Kara?" He pushed open her door and smiled at the familiar turquoise walls. Her bed was in the middle with lights hung on the veil that surrounded it. She had a whiteboard opposite her bed with a chair underneath it, her sword leant against it with good care and balance. She had an array of knives along another shelf in the room above her study desk where books and pieces of paper were messily scattered. A dressing table that had once belonged to their grandmother, along with a round mirror that lay against the wall with intricate designs around the edge of it.

The best part, though, was the stars that covered the ceiling. The sound of a light switch flickering off sounded behind him and the room was suddenly pitch black, the stars the only source of light and they were beautiful.

"She really does love them." Fili whispered.

"I know."

Thorin chuckled, before something seemed to click and he paused. "Where is Kara?"

"I don't know." Kili replied.

"She had better not have gone out through the window again." Thorin murmured. "Kili, go and look for her."

"I can go." Fili offered.

"No, I need to talk to you about something." Thorin muttered, so Kili sighed as he swung open the door and stepped out into the night.

* * *

"One of these days that filthy family will understand." Dullen told his fellow minions. "An exiled king, a shameful heir, an elf spawn and a little stuck up princess." Kara stood her ground firmly, using practically all of her willpower not to lunge at the dwarf. She had promised her uncle that she wouldn't get into any more fights, and she would try her hardest not to break it.

"It's not like that." She muttered.

"Your uncle couldn't even keep a kingdom to himself, and he blames it on the elves - pathetic. His nephew practically is one so I don't know why he..." His breath was knocked out of his lungs when his back slammed into the wall behind him, Kara with her hand on his throat.

"Why are you speaking of matters that you don't understand?" She hissed, and yelped when a fist made contact with the back of her neck. _His stupid minions_. Dullen laughed and kicked her in the stomach, knocking her down to the firm gravel with a thud, the bullies taking that moment to surround her threateningly. Just as Dullen had raised a fist and was about to bring it down on her exposed face a set of hands grabbed his arm and yanked him back, throwing him to the side although he caught the cheek of his attacker with a fist as he was harrased to the side. The rest all stepped back, Dullen massaging his arm and chuckled as Kili ignored the pain on his face.

"Oh look, it's the elf spawn." The hunky dwarf teased.

Kili looked up in annoyance. "Dullen, why are you such a player?"

"What?"

Kili smirked, knowing exactly how to get under the skin of the dwarf in front of him and make him leave. It was simple; embarrassment. "You do not go to a party at Reine's house with Mili and then scam on my poor, innocent sister four days later by terrorizing her because you're too afraid to say to her face that you want to take _her_ to a party!" The cronies around the dwarf began to choke with laughter which ended when Dullen shot them an unimpressed glower. "Lets face it; she's _not interested."_ Kili turned to his sister who lay on her back, propped up on her elbows as she watched the encounter with a smug grin. "Do you wanna go out with him?"

Kara blinked. "No thank you."

"Good. Glad that's settled. So you can go flash someone else, now." Dullen opened his mouth in shock before backing away. "Bye Dullen." The dwarf scoffed at the archer and turned, storming away from them. His gang of followers remained though, murmurings vibrating through them as the siblings rolled their eyes. "Don't you guys have practise? Or did you lose your balls." Kili asked bluntly, their faces dropping and they scurried away after their leader.

"This isn't over!" One of them yelled, pointing to Kara who shook her head as she tipped her head back.

"Looks pretty over to me!" She called, grasping Kili's hand and allowing him to yanked her up.

"Are you ok?" He asked in concern.

"Yep. Are you?" She answered in question, glancing at the red that was forming on his cheek.

"Aye."

"Thank you." She offered. "I think they'll be stuck in their houses in terror for at least a week." Kili laughed slightly before it transformed into a frown and he turned to face her, for once in his life a serious look on his face. Kara's smiled dropped and she crossed her arms, trying to avoid his gaze as she stared fixedly at a pile of grass behind her brother.

"Sweetie, you need to tell somebody why you keep getting into these fights." Kili murmured. "It can't just be because you're protecting some kid from the shop. If not me, then uncle, mother, or Fee, just tell someone. Please."

Kara hissed out a breath through clenched teeth, and looked around in irritation. _How could she explain?!_ Of course, it wasn't generally difficult to simply say 'they talk bad about our family' but the things that they said were so foul that she couldn't bare to repeat them. They didn't _understand._ They would never - they weren't born into a line with an amazing kingdom that got stolen by a dragon. They haven't suffered nearly as much grief as their poor uncle, with his brother, his brother in law, his father and grandfather. They hadn't suffered like she had when she was younger... her thoughts trailed away when she realised that thinking depressing thoughts wouldn't get her out of answering her brother.

"Fine." Kili stated. "Maybe they really are innocent, and I missed something. Maybe you are the one bullying them." he felt awful, knowing what he was saying was most certainly a lie, for he and his brother had been picked on by the same group of people too many times, and he hated it. There was a reason behind why Kara was always looking for trouble though, and he was determined to force it out of her.

"Kee, I would never bully anyone. You know this!" Kara exclaimed.

"How do I know?" Kili asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

Kara sighed in defeat and locked eyes with him. "You want to know why? They may as well _spit_ on our family, Kee. They always say that uncle would fail as a leader, they say Fili is a shameful heir, they call you a half breed..." She trailed off, worrying that she would hurt his feelings, although she knew that her brother held a hard barrier to insults, and secretly he probably despised them but he was amazing at not letting it show.

"Well, we just have to prove them wrong!" Kili said cheerily. "The day he knows that our older brother is the heir to the up and running kingdom of Erebor with a great ruler who will happen to be our uncle, and a beautiful princess..." He bowed to Kara who rolled her eyes and giggled. "We will be the ones spitting on them." Kara nodded in agreement and wondered how it was possible for someone to make her feel better in a matter of seconds.

"Do you think we ever will?"

"I think uncle wants too." Kili told her, putting a hand on her back to direct her away from the small clearing in the passageway.

"We'll be Fili's shields." She assured him.

He smiled slightly. "Maybe." He then paused and turned to her. "I have a bone to pick with you."

Kara furrowed her brow. "What?"

* * *

"What is it, uncle?" Fili asked as Thorin gestured for his eldest nephew to sit on a chair.

"I have decided that it is about time I reclaim what is mine. What is _ours."_ Thorin stated, and Fili squinted his eyes as he willed Thorin to elaborate.

"Okay..."

"I want you to escort me there." Thorin quickly explained. "I encountered a wizard whom I believe you may have met but probably don't remember him, during my recent travels in Bree and we decided it was time to take back our lost kingdom. I have assigned a company of eleven dwarves, including myself, along with the wizard who is in search of a hafling. It will a journey across plains and through forests. Our burglar can steal the heart of the mountain and we will reclaim what is ours. Will you join me?" Fili leant back in his chair, letting the news sink in. It was all so sudden.

"Well...of course I will join you, but..."

"Kili and Kara?" Thorin asked, and Fili nodded.

_"Dis, I want to take Fili and Kili with me." Thorin finished his explanation of his plans as he watched his sister run around the kitchen, hastily cutting up some vegetables as she tried to skin some salmon at the same time._

_"I knew this was coming." She muttered, licking some fish from her fingers. "I will let Fili go."_

_"And Kili?" Thorin asked hopefully._

_"If Kili goes Kara will be heartbroken, Fili and Kili are all that she has, Thorin!" Dis exclaimed._

_"I was uh..." Thorin massaged his brain and shifted uncomfortably, mentally and physically preparing himself for an outburst. "Going to suggest that she come too..."_

_"Thorin Oakenshield! How dare you even suggest that! I am not sending my ONLY daughter who is fifteen years of age on a dangerous quest to fight a dragon!" She slammed the knife down on the table. "Will you think about what you are suggesting logically for a second?! Kili is my last straw, some convincing and I might let him go, but I REFUSE to let my only daughter leave! I cannot lose her, Thorin." Her body deflated as her shouting evolved into a soft whisper._

"So...that didn't go so well." Thorin finished his story with a grimace. Fili shuddered at the thought of his mother's wrath. "I'm still debating whether or not to bring Kili, for Kara really will break if both of her brothers leave her, but I need to bring you because you're first in line and this is important to especially you."

Fili nodded in understanding. "Does Mama _want_ Kili to come?"

Thorin sighed deeply. "She will let him go, but she doesn't want to leave Kara on her own. That's why I suggested I bring Kara too." Thorin described, and Fili's elder brother instincts immediately kicked in.

"I think Kara should stay. It's too dangerous uncle." He immediately declared his thoughts. "But I think Kili should come. So...maybe Kara _should_ come..." Fili's debate in his head grew immensely and he sighed, but before Thorin could answer the door crashed open.

"I'm sorry!" Kara exclaimed for the millionth time on the walk home. "I forgot about the kids! I didn't want to look after them anyway Kee, they're so irritating!" She moaned.

"I had to make three meals for them before they were satisfied enough." Kili groaned, and Kara looked up and smiled at her uncle.

"Hi!"

"Hi." Thorin mumbled in response, deep in thought but he snapped out of it and observed her. "Where have you been?"

"I was with Lana. We got held up by a uh...robbery down the street." She lied.

"I'd better check that out." Thorin muttered. Kara and Kili shared an uncertain glance. Fili looked at them suspiciously from where he rested his head on his knees whilst he sat on the chair.

"How did this happen?" Thorin asked his nephew, gesturing to the red now stuck on his cheek.

"I uh...tripped." Kili fibbed.

"On what?"

"Something...hard." He had reluctantly promised his sister that he wouldn't tell his uncle about the fight that she got into today, but made a silent vow to himself to tell Fili about why she always got into them.

"And how did you do this?!" Thorin asked, snatching Kara's arm and stared in concern at the nasty bruise forming on her elbow. She coughed awkwardly. _I got knocked onto the floor by a hunky dwarf who happens to be three years older than me._

"I fell too." It was only partly a lie to be fair, for falling down did cause the injury. "I will go and clean up." Thorin nodded, and Kara noticed that the moment she was out of the room their voices lowered a huge amount. She hovered just outside the doorway - she had always been taught not to snoop, but her curiosity got the better of her and she listened in.

"Kili?" Thorin asked. "Will you join me on a quest to take back our homeland?" Kili spat out his drink and choked on his own spit.

"What?!" He asked through coughs.

"It was decided a few months ago that it is time to take back Erebor." Thorin explained, looking worryingly at the doorway. Kara scoffed silently, not wanting to ruin this moment for her brothers so she smiled slightly, as though they could see her, before running into her bedroom and collapsing on her bed.

"Of course I will uncle! But what about Kara?" Kili asked. Thorin looked sadly to the doorway.

Fili stood up, looking to his younger brother who gestured for him to go, and Fili knew that he too had heard someone running up the stairs. _His sister had heard._ They just _knew._ He didn't know if it was just an older brother thing, but he could feel it in his gut and guilt overwhelmed him. He departed, chasing after his little sister. He turned the knob, preparing himself for an outburst as he entered the room. She was lying on the bed, her face pressed into a pillow, with her legs in the air.

"Look, Kara, we will come straight back I promise. If you really don't want us to go, just say so, there is absolutely no pressure for us to go, and I'm sure he would bring you if he could, but mother is just worried about losing you as you are her only daughter and it's..." He was interrupted by a silent cry, and he sat on the bed and pulled her up and wiped away her tears. When she sobbed into her shoulder, he realized there was something else wrong, and he pulled her away and leant her head down on the pillow.

"What's the matter?" He asked, and she sniffed.

"It's just...I've trained for so long so that one day I would be able to reclaim Erebor! But uncle doesn't think I'm good enough." She mumbled.

"That is not true Kar!" Fili exclaimed.

"It's the constant feeling of needing to prove myself. Make uncle think that I'm talented." She murmured, and Fili sighed, tipping his head back.

"But you are talented." He stated softly, and she studied his speech for any hint of a lie, but found none.

"I have to be." She muttered. "You have to be, Kili has to be."

Fili smiled slightly. "Kili is."

"I know." Kara agreed softly, tipping her head back.

"And so are you." Fili continued the conversation. "I can't throw a knife or wield a dagger half as well as you, I can't shoot an arrow half as well as Kili..."

"And we can't fight with duel swords half as well as you." She finished.

"Yet we can all use a sword. Thinking about it, together we're unstoppable." he punched a fist into the air dramatically and she offered a small giggle, and wondered once again how it was possible for someone to make her feel better in a matter of minutes. Maybe it was an older brother thing...she didn't know.

Thorin listened from outside the door and sighed deeply. He wanted her to come, and he knew for a fact that Dis didn't, but all he knew is that he had to change her mind. He sighed gruffly, listening to the conversation that made his heart shatter. _You do make me proud Kara._ He heard his youngest nephew wander up behind him, and stopped in his tracks when he saw Thorin with his ear pressed to the door.

"Is there a murderer in there?" He asked. "Or can I keep eating this food?" Thorin turned around to face him and Kili was taken aback when he saw his uncle with red rimmed eyes. "Did someone die?!" He exclaimed. Thorin put a finger to his lips and pushed Kili away from the door.

"I need to convince your mother to let us bring Kara." He stated, and Kili smiled happily, silently punching a fist into the air. "But it will be difficult to convince her that I will be able to protect her." Kili glanced thoughtfully around the hallway.

"Well...we could always put Kara in one of those little...plastic bubbles." Kili mimed one with his hands and Thorin rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious. You should be too." Thorin scolded as Kili's laughing faded.

"Sorry." He offered. "Well, good luck."

"Kili, your mother is one stubborn dwarrow woman and I don't think I will be able to convince her to let your sister come." Thorin spoke his thoughts.

Kili looked down at the plate of food and held it out sadly. "Want some mashed potato?" He asked, and Thorin stared at the plate as if his brain waves would smash it, but then he snatched the bowl and savoured the taste as he rubbed his tongue on the roof of his mouth in stress.

Kili giggled. "Look, we'll get mother to realise that Kara won't stay here if me and Fee aren't here, and tell her she'd follow us."

"What makes you think she'd follow us?" Thorin asked, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Because she can't live without me." Kili declared, as if it was the most obvious thing.

Thorin shook his head. "Whatever you think." He observed his nephew and furrowed his brow, putting his hands on Kili's shoulders. "When did you get so tall?!" Kili furrowed his brow, but before he could answer Fili and Kara stepped out of the room. They both shifted and tried to make it look as though they had just been passing, but it was a bit late so Kili decided to speak before they could say anything.

"Are you ok sweetie?"

She nodded in response. "I hope you have fun on the quest." She told him, and she meant every syllable. Kili sighed and looked to his uncle, who stared at the brothers, eyes willing for them to leave. Kili took the hint and pulled on Fili's arm, dragged him down the hallway, whispering the situation in a hushed voice.

"So uncle heard what she said and decided that she needs to come." He finished.

"She is worried that she isn't talented." Fili muttered sadly. Both brothers knew that was complete nonsense.

Kili's voice unintentionally rose. "I know, I read her diary."

Kara heard this line and snapped her head up. "What?"

Kili whipped around and pointed to his sister as he edged backwards to the end. "Hehe..nothing!" He ran after Fili and Kara rolled her eyes. She vowed to press on that subject at a later date.

"We leave for the quest next week." Thorin told his niece, and Kara nodded at her uncle, looking up with slight puppy eyes.

"I wish you the best of luck with that." She told him.

"You had better start packing." He said. Her eyes snapped to his face as she began to process what in mahal's name that could possibly mean.

"What?!" She asked, before she grinned and jumped up to her uncle, who chuckled as he embraced his niece. "What about mother?" Kara asked.

"Leave your mother to me."

* * *

"Look, Dis, she has the skills that she needs, and I promise _nothing_ will happen to her - I will protect her with my life!" Thorin exclaimed.

"So will we." Fili and Kili added in unison.

"I can't just let her go." Dis declared.

"She'll just sneak out and follow us if we leave her here." Kili pointed out and everyone in the room knew it was true.

Dis sighed, walking over to her brother. "If anything happens to her, I will _never_ forgive you." She hissed, and Thorin gulped but he smiled.

"Thank you, Dis. Nothing will happen to her." Thorin assured her, and she stepped back and smiled at her sons.

"Well, go and get ready." She ordered, and they scooted out of the room, and went to tell Kara the good news. She was completely excited, jumping around her room as she observed her surroundings. Her bedroom was the one thing that was truly hers, and it was most certainly the place that she felt the most safe. Sharpening her knives, she swore to herself that she would return to her mother. She looked up slightly when two new figures entered the room, and when she saw who it was she turned her attention to them.

"Aloha sweetie." Kili greeted.

"We got you something." Fili added, handing her a small box. Kara observed it and pulled off the lid, before breathing in in awe and pulling out the dagger. It's hilt was littered with beautiful intricate designs, and was her favourite shade of dark blue. She ran her finger along the edge, studying it's detail and she grinned, pulling her brothers into an embrace.

"Thank you!" She breathed, pulling apart and smiling gratefully at them. "It's beautiful."

"And sharp." Fili pointed out. "Perfect for killing orcs."

"You really needed a new one." Kili added.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed again before trotting over to her draws and pulling out some gifts that she had purchased for her brothers birthdays this year. She pulled out a brand new set of arrows and a new sword sheath before handing them to her brothers.

"They were supposed to be for your birthday but then I realized that you wouldn't be here for your birthdays so thought I would give them to you when you leave but now seems like a good time." She explained, and the brothers took the offered gifts and grinned as they studied them.

"Thank you." They said simultaneously, pulling their sister into another embrace, before she parted, holding them both at arms length. She was taller than Fili, which she knew the eldest hated, and she was a bit smaller than Kili. They were all a similar enough height though.

"Now what was that about my diary?" She asked her youngest brother.

Kili shifted uncomfortably. "I uh...what?"

* * *

"We'll get them." Came a soft whisper. "All three of them. We need revenge. They're leaving for the quest next week."

"What if they kill us?"

"We have _one_ chance." She hissed. "Don't you see that? Don't give up on this now. Flux you're in charge of Fili. Blitz, handle Kili. Don't do it lightly."

She looked out through the forest, letting her hair dance with the breeze behind her and smiled malevolently. "I've got the girl."

* * *

**Hehe! I have an idea where this story is going to go now - it will mainly be the hobbit tale with my own few twists on the way! What did you think? Reviews would always be appreciated!**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	4. At Your Service

"Gimli, it's fine, I may be a girl but I'm not thick." Kara promised.

"I wanna come." Gimli grumbled.

"You're a wee bit young." Kili teased.

"Gloin is waiting for you." Fili stated. "I think he wants to say goodbye before he leaves." The red haired dwarf rolled his eyes and followed Fili out. Kili and Kara sat down with two friends, Liz and Pil, and had a long conversation before Kara looked outside and realised the time.

"We have to go." She urgently murmured to Kili.

"Where?" Liz asked.

"Music class." Kara said.

"Hound training." Kili told them at the same time as Kara. They looked at each other and panicked.

"Hound training." Kara declared.

"Music class." Kili said at the same time as Kara once again.

"Which is it?" Pil asked.

"We...play music to the hounds when they get stressed." Kili explained.

"It calms them." Kara added with a wave as they rushed out of the door. Her uncle had told her not to tell anyone about the quest - everyone would obviously find out, for people would definitely start to question why they weren't there, but she didn't want any of her friends to try and stop her. Fili jogged over to them once they broke into the outside aroma.

"Gimli's really mad." He chuckled.

"Of course." Kara muttered as she rolled her eyes and went home to prepare for departure.

* * *

"Kara, do you have a bedroll?"

"Yes Fee, I told you that twice yesterday."

"Do you even have a sword? Or a water flask?"

"Yes!" Kara exclaimed exasperated. "Fili, I purchased and packed everything you wrote on the list!"

"Do you? Let me see." Kara rolled her eyes when her brother began to rummage through her bag, silently ticking things off in his head. "You liar!"

"What?"

"You didn't pack any knives!" Kara scoffed as Fili stared at her pointedly. She pulled out three knives from her boots before digging into her pockets and pulling out six more. Fili raised a hand to stop her from pulling out any more.

"Okay! Okay, sorry." He raised his hands in defence and she giggled.

"So have _you_ got everything?"

"Of course." Fili stated, and Kara began to root around inside his bag.

"There isn't a water flask in here."

"Yes there is." Fili argued and once he had finished searching thoroughly through his bag he looked up. "Or not." Kara laughed and looked to her other brother who lay on his back on her bed, staring at something.

"You ready?" Kara asked.

"Mm...when will these fit?" He moaned as he lifted his legs up and observed the very high quality boots. They had been Frerin's, and Thorin had given them to Kili. Fili glanced at him sadly and Kara smiled.

"One day. But seriously, are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Have you got everything?" Fili double checked.

"Yes Fili! Such stress heads." Kili snapped irritably. Fili rolled his eyes and Kara looked at him with a head shake.

* * *

"Mum, we'll be fine." Kara tried to convince their mother for the millionth time that day.

"Kara, you need to come back to me. Do you hear me? All of you. You have to."

"Alright mum!" Fili exclaimed. "I won't let either of them die."

"I know." Dis agreed as she pulled Fili into a hug and kissed his forehead. "If any of you die the others will be grounded for three years, understand?" The three snickered and hugged their concerned mother once again. "Ok, ground rules." She pointed to Fili. "No dying for anyone." She pointed to Kili. "No being reckless." she pointed to Kara. "No talking to strangers unless absolutely necessary." The three furrowed their brows at that last statement and glanced at each other in confusion, but Dis didn't seem to notice as she trotted into the back room and grabbed a box.

"Take one each." The three siblings pulled a stone out and observed them. Kara's was a light grey, Fili's was brown and Kili's was black. _Return to me._ Kara read the runes and looked up to her mother with a head shake and embraced the stressed dam once more.

"We'll be fine, mother!" Kili exclaimed. "If not we'll make you an omelette from the dead.

" Dis shook her head and rolled her eyes. "So like Frerin." She muttered. "Bye. Safe journey." She pulled Kara into a hug and kissed her hair. "I mean what I say on the stone." She murmured.

"I know, ma. Bye." She waved as she followed her brothers out of the door, taking a final look at the only home that she had ever known, before silently whispering goodbye.

* * *

"Fili."

"Kili."

"And Kara."

"At your service." The three said and bowed in perfect synchronization, to a very confused poor looking hobbit. They had walked along the tidy dirt path, observing every single hobbit hole closely until Kara finally saw Gandalf's mark. They had discussed how to introduce themselves, and Fili decided that they do it the proper way that dwarves do, and Kara always remarked that that was rather boring, but then again one bow could still carry all of their usual charm.

"You must be Mr Boggins." Kili exclaimed cheerily.

"K...Kili, I believe his name is mr Baggins." Kara muttered in a hushed voice.

"Boggins has a much better ring to it." The brunette hissed back. Kara raised her eyebrows but said nothing, and tried to stifle a laugh.

"Nope you can't come in, you've come to the wrong house."

"What, has it been canceled?" Kara asked in disbelief, as she stopped the door with her foot so it didn't end up in her face.

"No one told us." Fili added.

"C...cancelled, no nothings been canceled!" The poor hobbit stuttered, his countenance looking extremely flustered.

"That's a relief." Kili decided as he swatted the hobbit's hand away and barged in, his siblings on his tails. Kara looked around in interest - it was surprisingly clean - she knew hobbits were known for not being anything like dwarves when it came to mess, but she hadn't expected this dazzling aroma.

"Be careful with these. I've just had them sharpened." Fili ordered as he dumped a pile of weapons into the hobbit's un-ready arms, and Kara bit back a laugh at how the hafling could barely see over the amount that he was holding.

"It's nice, this place." Kili remarked.

"It really is, master Baggins." Kara breathed as her eyes flicked between the walls in awe.

"Did you do it yourself?" Kili asked. Kara noticed her brother traping mud in and pointed this out, so Kili observed his boot and frowned as he wiped it on a box.

"No it's been in my family for years and that's my mothers glory box can you please not do that?"

"Fili, Kili, Kara, come in here and give us a hand." Dwalin ordered as he lead Kili into the kitchen.

"Mister Dwalin." Kili smiled. Kara wouldn't be where she was now without Dwalin - none of the trio would, for Dwalin had trained them in all things weaponry, with a little help from their uncle, though he spent much of his time at the forge, trying his hardest to earn coin.

"Shove this in the hallway otherwise we'll never get everyone in." Balin ordered as he began to order the dwarves around him to help lift the heavy wooden tables. The doorbell rang again and Kara flinched slightly, knowing there would be more dwarves at the door than the burglar realized.

"No no. There's nobody home! Go away and bother somebody else. There's far too many dwarves in my dining room as it is. If this is some clot-heads idea of a joke..." Kara snickered - _clot-head?!_ "I can only say, it is in very poor taste..." Bilbo's rambling came to a halt when the arrival of eight more dwarves and the wizard tumbled through his large, round green door in a clumsy pile.

"Gandalf." the hobbit murmured in realization.

"Ello las!" Bofur greeted as the dwarves stood up and straightened themselves, before taking over the entire kitchen. They moved everything around, ate his food, practically destroyed his house as they never listened to their host's frantic orders and pleads.

"Bofur!" Kara exclaimed. "Long time no see!"

"Right?" The toymaker asked. "I think old Bilbo over there got ill overnight - he seems extremely unprepared for this! Did you see how many tables we had to move?"

"Yeah he put us to a lot of effort." Kara grumbled. Bofur nodded in agreement.

"It will pay off when uncle arrives." Fili joined the conversation as the other two mumbled their agreements.

"He looks too pure to be a burglar." Kara remarked as she looked the hobbit up and down.

"Maybe Gandalf picked the wrong hobbit?" Fili half asked. A low voice from behind them had them both spinning around, startled.

"I don't make mistakes, I'm a wizard."

"Oh!" Kara exclaimed. "You're Gandalf. We just meant he..."

"That's quite alright dear...you must be Kara." The dwarf nodded her head and looked at her eldest brother. "And you are Fili?"

"Indeed." The blonde heir confirmed. Kara reached and grabbed her other brother's arm, yanking him over which caused half of the liquid to spill from the cup he was holding and the smile from his previous conversation to drop when he saw Gandalf. "And Kili." Fili gestured to the brunette.

"That's the wizard?" Kili asked.

"No, he's a spider." Kara replied sarcastically.

"He could be a dwarf

just..." The archer observed Gandalf. "Born a bit...wrong."

Gandalf chuckled as he leant on his staff. Kara wondered if he used as a walking stick for a disguise. "I assure you I am a wizard." He observed Kili and raised his eyebrows though he didn't speak his thoughts. "Anyway, it is a pleasure to meet you three." The wizard changed the subject and smiled in greeting.

"Really?" Kara asked. The journey here had mainly been the trio discussing all things wizard - they had never met one before. Some of the tales told them to be grumpy, hot tempered, miserable old people that wear pointy hats and carry a staff, which they use to turn things that bug them into toads. Of course, that conversation naturally took a turn and the three ended up discussing what animal they would like to be and why. Kara chose a leopard for many reasons, but what did that matter?

"Of course." Gandalf exclaimed cheerily before ducking as he entered the other room. The three looked at each other with wide eyes and they raised their eyebrows in surprise before following him into the next room. Kara walked over to the hobbit who was staring at the constant moving of his belongings in exasperation.

"Are you alright, Master Baggins?"

"No! There are fourteen dwarves in my house, moving everything around, messing up my tables, eating my food and I don't have a single little clue as to why!" Kara widened her eyes in surprise and looked around.

"Did Gandalf not tell you?"

"No! And they told me there names as though they expect me to remember..."

"Oh!" Kara interrupted. "You don't remember their names? Well, that is Oin, he's a healer, and that's Gloin - his son wanted to come but he was too young..."

"Come where?"

"On the quest! Anyway, Bifur is the dwarf with the axe in his head. Bofur is the only one of us with a hat and Bombur is easily recognisable because of his gut - I used to wonder how he was able to walk! Bifur is Bofur and Bombur's cousin who are brothers..." Kara pointed them out as she crouched down to be level with the hobbit.

"Wait wait..." he stuttered. "What quest?"

"To fight the dragon!" Kara exclaimed, as though it was the most obvious thing. "I'm..."

"Kara?"

"Yes! See you are great at remembering things. That's Balin, he's old and white so he's easily memorable, that's Dwalin, also easily memorable, I mean, look at him! Then that's Ori, Dori and Nori. Nori is a pick pocket so you can learn some burglary skills from him..."

"Why would I need burglary skills?"

"To help play your part in our adventure, Master Baggins!" Kara explained, not noticing that the hobbit had no idea that he was invited on a quest.

"Wait, what...?"

"My brothers are calling me. Thanks for the food - it's amazing!" Kara picked up a chicken leg and raised her eyebrows as he stared at her departing figure with constantly growing confuzzlement. She seated herself next to her brothers and watched as Fili filled up a few mugs of ale, walking across the table as he handed them out.

"Who want an ale?"

"Here, brother!" Kara called, smiling as she rubbed her tongue on the roof of her mouth, savouring the delicious taste. The dwarves around her were so loud that she thought her eardrums might be burst by the end of the day, but then again she was used to this. The victorious yells when you catch a piece of food that somebody throws you, the banging on the table, the excessive laughing and the extremely impressive belching done by Ori. Bilbo rang his hands in irritation as he rambled to Gandalf about his confusion, which Kara listened to in amusement as she leant against the door.

"Excuse me? I'm sorry to interrupt, but what should I do with my plate?" Ori asked Bilbo politely. Kara immediately knew what was coming.

"Here you go Ori give it to me." Fili ordered, throwing the plate to Kili who expertly kicked them to his sister who took her position by the washing up area, flicking them over her head and onto the large pile that was building up by the sink. Bilbo growled and appeared in the doorway, causing the dwarves on the table to start bagning their cutlery onto the wood, angering the hobbit even more.

"Can you not do that? You'll blunt them!"

"Ooohh you hear that, lads? He says we'll blunt the knives!" Bofur exclaimed, hint laced into his voice. Kara grinned and readied herself.

"Blunt the knives, bend the forks." Kili sang.

"Smash the bottles and burn the corks.." Fili led on.

"Chip the glasses and crack the plates.." Kara continued through laughs.

"That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!" Everyone joined in. "Cut the cloth and tread on the fat. Leave the bones on the bedroom-mat, pour the milk on the pantry-floor, splash the wine on every door! Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl, pound them up with a thumping pole. When you've finished, if any are whole, send them down the hall to roll!" Bilbo panicked as he stared at the constantly growing pile of bowls, and Bofur stood up to run and grab the whistle, which he began to play in a cheery tune. Of course, they didn't do everything that they sang of, but they did enough to worry Bilbo. They were experts though, and Kara was quite proud that they hadn't smashed one plate yet!

"That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!" They all sang before a burst of laughter ran through everyone, Kara shaking her head, trying to hide that she was crying with laughter as she leant an arm on Kili's shoulder. It abruptly stopped when a hard knock sounded on the door, and the cheery mood seemed to dim as everyone's faces suddenly plastered seriousness.

"He is here." Gandalf murmured, walking over to the door and unlocking it to reveal Kara's uncle.

"Gandalf." he greeted. "I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice. I would never have found it if it had not been for that mark on the door." Bilbo chose that moment to step forward in annoyance.

"Mark? There is no mark on that door, it was painted a week ago!"

"There is a mark, I put it there myself. Bilbo Baggins. Allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."

Thorin crossed his arms as he stood in front of the hafling, observing him with doubtful eyes. "So...this is the hobbit. Tell me, Master Baggins, have you done much fighting?"

"What?!"

"Axe or sword? What's your weapon of choice?"

"Well I do have some skill in conkers if you must know...but I fail to see why that's relevant." Kara snorted.

"Thought as much. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." Thorin remarked, earning a series of quieter laughs from the dwarves that lead the way into the dining room. Kara filled up a plate for her uncle of what she knew he loved and laid it in front of him where he was seated at the end of the table. "Thank you, love. How was the journey?"

"Safe actually. Nothing to report." _Aside Kili angering a fox that nearly ate the trio with its blazing sharp teeth, but who needed to know that?_

"Good to hear." Thorin mused as Kara walked away and seated herself in between Fili and Kili.

"What news from the meeting in Ered Luin? Did they all come? Balin asked, starting the conversation that everyone knew was coming.

"Aye, envoys from all seven kingdoms."

"And what did the dwarves of the Iron Hill say? Is Dain with us?" Dwalin asked.

Thorin looked down sadly. "They will not come." Kara looked around at the suddenly dim mood, but she urged for Thorin to go on with her eyes when he looked at her, for she wanted to hear Dain's reason.

"They say this quest is ours, and ours alone."

"You're going a quest?" Bilbo piped up from where he had been lingering in the doorway, listening to the conversation. Kara bit her bottom lip and leant over to Fili.

"I told him the names of all the dwarves and he kept asking me what quest, I just assumed that he had had a bad sleep and forgotten." She whispered and Fili chuckled.

"He's extremely oblivious. Look at him." Kara nodded in agreement.

"Bilbo, my dear fellow, let us have a little more light." Gandalf ordered as he pulled out a map and lay it on the table, tracing his aged finger over it. Kara had to strain her neck to see it clearly. "Far to the East, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak."

The wizard's hand stopped dead on the Lonely Mountain, and the hafling walked back in, candle in hand, as he peered curiously over Gandalf's high shoulder.

"The Lonely Mountain."

"Aye, Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it is time. Gloin explained.

Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold. When the birds of the old return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end." The red headed dwarf's brother continued.

"Uh…what beast?" Kara glanced worriedly at the hafling before sharing a 'this is not going to end well' glance with Kili.

"Well that would be a reference to Smaug the terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age." Bofur explained.

"Airborne fire breather, teeth like razors, claws like meat hooks, extremely fond of precious metals." Kara had listened to Bofur speak and decided to further the description, for she assumed that Bilbo would need the extra preparation.

"Yes, I know what a dragon is."

"I'm not afraid, I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of the dwarvish iron right up his jacksy!" Ori stated loudly as he stood up confidently, and Kara raised a hand and cheered the dwarf on, along with the others.

"Sit down!" Dori hissed, and Kara rolled her eyes. _Brothers can be so protective_.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us, but we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest."

"Hey! Who are you calling dim?" Ori asked.

"We may be few in number. But we're fighters, all of us! To the last dwarf!" Kara's blonde brother called confidently.

"And you forget we have a wizard in our company, Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time." The other exclaimed, earning a series of murmurs. Kara glanced at the wizard who looked down awkwardly.

"I don't think he has." She whispered to Fili.

"That's embarrassing." He whispered back and she snorted.

"Oh, well. No, uh, I…I wouldn't say…" The wizard stuttered.

"How many then?" Dori asked.

"What?"

"Well, how many dragons have you killed? Go on, give us a number!" The dwarves all started talking together again, getting angrier with each word that was uttered.

"Uh…Please. Please." The hobbit started.

"Enough!" Thorin yelled, banging a fist on the table so suddenly that everyone immediately quietened. Kara and her brothers especially knew not to let Thorin lose his temper.

"If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumors have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for sixty years. Eyes look East to the mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor?"

Kara cheered with the rest of the dwarves. She was doing this for her uncle - well, she was doing it for everybody, but she didn't care where she lived - of course, she would love to see what was supposed to be her hometown but the only place she could ever call home was the Blue Mountains, and so the only thing she could really go off were her uncle's fond stories of the mountain.

"You forget the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain."

"Aww Balin, do you have to dim the mood?" Kara teased.

"My reputation is the voice of reason, lass." The white dwarf shrugged with a wink. "Though I can be rather bad." He wiggled his finger in the air. "I've broken into houses before."

"Didn't know you had it in you, brother." Dwalin teased.

"Never underestimate me." Balin nudged him, and Dwalin snorted before taking another sip of ale.

"There is another way into the mountain, actually." Gandalf declared, steering the subject to be back on track as he pulled out a key. Kara looked at her brothers in question, though Fili was looking to his uncle and Kili was staring at the key as though it was demented.

"How came you by this?" Thorin asked, staring at it in awe.

"It was given to me by your father by Thrain, for safekeeping. It is yours now."

"If there is a key, there must be a door!" Fili exclaimed.

"Really?" Kili asked sarcastically, and laughed when he got a nudge to the ribs.

"These runes speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls."

"There's another way in!" Kara stated with a smile.

"Really?" Kili asked, earning another nudge, though his siblings couldn't hold back a grin.

"Well, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed. The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map, and I do not have the skill to find it, but there are others in Middle-Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But if we're careful and clever, I believe that it can be done."

"That's why we need a burglar." Ori piped up once again.

"Hmm. And a good one too. An expert, I'd imagine." Kara, Fili and Kili all snorted simultaneously and Bilbo stared at them. "What?"

"Well, are you?" Kili asked.

"Am I what?" The hobbit questioned as he peered around and cowared at the fact every pair of eyes in the room were fixed on him, and he had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

"He said he's an expert!" Oin cheered with a laugh as on top of each other conversations emerged from the lips of everyone once again.

"Me?! No! No, No, No! I…I'm not a burglar. I've never stolen a thing in my life." Bilbo huffed proudly.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Mr. Baggins. He's hardly burglar material." Balin declared.

"Aye, the wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves." Dwalin agreed with his brother.

"We don't know him!" Kara exclaimed defensively. "Maybe he has some tricks up his sleeves!" At that the volume grew immensely and Gandalf stood up, shutting everybody up.

"Enough! Kara is correct! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is! Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they choose, and while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of a dwarf, the scent of a hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the fourteenth member of this company, and I have chosen Mr Baggins. There's a lot more to him than appearances suggest. And he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including himself." Gandalf finished and everyone shut up as he leant over to speak to Thorin. "You must trust me on this." Kara was patiently waiting for Thorin to argue, but to her surprise, he reluctantly agreed.

"Very well. We'll do it your way." The exiled king muttered. "Give him the contract." He ordered to Balin.

"We're in. Were off!" Gloin spoke.

"Please." Bilbo muttered.

"It's just the usual summary of out-of-pocket, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangement, so forth." Balin explained, giving it to Bilbo who unravelled it and flinched at how long it was.

"Funeral arrangements?" Bilbo skimmed through it, rambling to himself throughout the process. Kara giggled. "I think he's the only one who read the terms."

"You didn't read them?" Fili asked.

"Kara, naughty girl. There is some important stuff on there!" Kili exclaimed.

"Like what?" Kara asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Funeral arrangements?" Kili asked.

"You two did not read them, and if you say you did I will fall on the floor in a fit of laughter." Kara raised her eyebrows, and the brothers glanced at each other.

"Nope!" They declared simultaneously. Bilbo appeared behind Kili.

"You said funeral arrangements - what would that mean?"

"Well if you die we assume you'll want a funeral." Kili said bluntly.

"But...you dwarves are happy to just...die?"

"Well nobody wants that." Fili stated.

"But sometimes life is life, and we just have to suck it up. Be a man." Kili pointed to Bilbo's triceps, Kara being the only sibling aware that the hafling had visibly paled as he continued to read it with wide eyes.

"Incineration?!" He asked in shock.

"Oh aye. He'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye." Bofur explained casually.

"You alright laddie?" Balin asked, noticing how Bilbo's skin whitened with every word.

"Huh? Yeah, I fe...I feel a bit faint."

"Think furnace, with wings."

"I...I...I need air." The halfing gasped.

"Flash of light, searing pain, then poof! you're nothing more than a pile of ash!"

"Nope." The hobbit fainted and Kara bit her lip as she strolled over to the toymaker.

"Oh, very helpful Bofur." Gandalf muttered sarcastically.

"You deserve this." The princess sang as she pulled Bofur's hat off of his head.

"Oi! Lass! Give it back!" Kara threw it to Kili and the trio kept it out of reach from Bofur for a very long time, before everyone gathered in the lounge and they finished their childish game, Bofur throwing the hat on his head with a fake huff though he grinned at them.

The fire blazed, and Kara sat on the sofa, watching a heartfelt conversation between Thorin and Balin. She sighed.

_I'm doing this for you uncle._

Thorin began to hum a tune, before breaking out into a low song with his familiar, soothing voice to which all of the dwarves joined in with. Eventually Thorin ordered for them to sleep, for they left at first light. Kara couldn't sleep - she wasn't sure what it was. She was nervous, excited, energetic and shattered somehow all at the same time.

"Kara?"

"Mmm, uncle. Why aren't you asleep?"

"I can't, dear niece."

"Why?" She opened her eyes, squinting through the darkness. Thorin sighed, leaning on his arms against the sofa.

"If we want to succeed in reclaiming Erebor, we need more dwarves, a better burglar, and...I don't know, we can't just fight a dragon." Kara looked up in shock.

"It's off?!"

"I don't know, dear. It would be reckless to continue."

"Uncle, do you want to reclaim Erebor?"

"More than anything."

A smile broke out onto Kara's face. "Then let's go and steal it back."

Thorin smiled, though she could barely see for it was almost pitch black in the room. "Okay." He agreed.

"We can't just eat all of the hobbit's food, destroy his house and make him faint for nothing." Kili piped up, and both dwarves looked up in surprise.

"True." Thorin chuckled. "Why are you awake?" Before he could answer Fili's head shot up and Kili quietly yelped in surprise, falling off the sofa and Fili's head that previously rested on his brother's shoulder fell forward and with the weight he too fell, and they both landed in a heap on the floor. Dwarves around them began to stir.

"Nice one." Kara hissed, though she couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Oops." The brothers murmured simultaneously.

"Why are you awake, Fili?"

"I dreamt about the fox."

"What fox?" Thorin pressed.

"Uh..." Fili stuttered.

"See, Kili saw it and hissed, so it began to run for us. We didn't want to kill it so we clambered up a tree. It circled the trunk like all night but eventually got bored and left, and we pretty much ran here from there." Kara explained.

"Kara!" Kili exclaimed, slapping her on the arm.

"You should have killed it." Thorin laughed.

"I said to but..." Fili began.

"How can you kill something with the courage to chase three dwarves." Kili mused before snickering at the confused expressions the three gave him.

"Well, get some sleep." Thorin ordered, leaning back.

"I probably won't be able to." Kara muttered.

"Come here." Thorin held out an arm and she smiled, bounding like an excited puppy and she snuggled into his warmth, knowing it would be much easier to sleep. The brothers climbed back onto the sofa and tried to do the exact same.

* * *

**Lame ending I know, but hey ho! What did you think?**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	5. Don't Drown Today

**This is based on a missing scene from chapter 4 of the book that I really wish was in the movie! Enjoy :)**

* * *

Kara lay her back against the hard stone as she smoked her pipe, watching Bilbo feed his pony with an amused smile. She remembered what seemed like forever ago - him running over to them, announcing that he was joining the quest and when Fili and Kili lifted him onto a pony he freaked out big time, leaning his body weight backwards as his countenance held an expression of fear at grabbing hold of the reins, and when he reluctantly did he held them as loosely as possible and flinched every time the pony made a noise as little as a sneeze. Now it looked as though he was trying to befriend the creature, which the horse eagerly agreed to as it happily stole the apple from his hand.

She looked into the distance when she heard an echoed howl, though she knew that it was nothing. Bilbo turned fearful eyes on the trio from where he stood by his pony. "What was that?" He demanded.

Fili opened his mouth to say it was nothing but Kili interrupted him. "Orcs."

"Orcs?" Bilbo questioned as he jogged over to them for further explanation.

"Throat cutters. They''ll be dozens of them out there." Fili continued lightly.

"The lone-lands are crawling with them. They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep." Kili explained, waving his hands dramatically.

"Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." Kara finished, looking at the floor to hide her brewing laughter as the brothers glanced at each other before letting out chuckles.

"You think that's funny?" The familiar deep voice cut through the air, interrupting their giggling as they looked up and bit their bottom lips in shame. "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

"We didn't mean anything by it." Kili spoke for the trio.

"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Kara's mind swarmed with past visions and her breathing grew more and more erratic the moment she heard those words spill from his lips.

_"Kara. Kara. It will be okay sweetie...shhh." Her father's warm voice met her ears and her eyes developed heartbroken tears as she wailed, her tears landing on his exposed, bloody chest. "Kara, it will be okay."_

Kara sucked in a shaky breath as she bought a hand to her head.

_"Don't die, papa. Please." She begged, sniffing as she held his hand in her own shivering one._

_"Little one, I love you. I love you more than words can say. Kara, my sweet Kara." He pressed his locket into her hands. "I love you. I love all of you. Tell them that, tell your mother, your brothers..." The light left his eyes in a sudden moment and for a second, everything around her seemed to float in an unrealistic reality._

"Kara?" Fili asked in concern.

_Strong arms enveloped her and she sobbed into her uncle's chest, clutching the locket with hard fingers as Fili seemed to understand the situation and hugged his mother whilst Kili's wide and curious eyes stared in confusion as he cocked his head to the side. Thorin held out an arm and Kili walked into it, but he didn't know what was going on as the guards carefully carried Villi's body away. Kara was completely traumatized as her tears flowed out like a constant fountain, whilst Thorin whispered soothing words in her ear, unsure how to calm his distressed little niece._

"Kara!" Kili exclaimed, snapping her out of her reverie as she glared at her uncle.

"I had to watch father die." She stated and Thorin whirled around in surprise. "I watched him die as a mere child." She scoffed and looked at the floor, a slight tear rolling down her face. "We make light out of these situations because there is nothing else to do. I watched my father die in front of me when I was five years old and I know nothing of the world?!"

Thorin sighed, swallowing tears at how heartbroken his niece just looked, but he couldn't bring himself to turn around as he looked out to the view and stood on the edge of the cliff.

"Don't let him bother you lassie." Balin joined in the conversation sympathetically, looking at Kara who huffed and sat on the ground as Fili rubbed soothing circles on her back. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs." Kara looked up in interest as he began to put the events of the Battle of Azanulbizar into a story. She had heard the tale, but coming from a different witnesses perspective made her feel sad for her uncle, but she had seen death before - it wasn't new. "After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got' there first. Moria had been taken by legions of orcs, led by the most vile of all their race, Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the king. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief, he went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him. A young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe. His armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day, that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied, and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated, but there was no feast, nor song that night for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few, had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow, there is one I could call king." He finished his tale as everyone glanced up to Thorin with respect.

"And the pale orc?" Bilbo asked who had been listening in, having never heard the tale. "What happened to him?"

"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." Thorin growled as he answered the hobbits question, so sure of himself as he turned, sending a slight apologetic glance to Kara before looking away again. Kara nestled her face against Fili's shoulder and shut her eyes to the world, painful memories shutting out all chances of good dreams.

* * *

"Fili, Kili, water the ponies." Thorin ordered. The two brothers groaned as they stood up and walked over to the animals before they started to lead them to a nearby stream to water them. Kara helped Bofur hand out the stew due to Thorin's order, even though it bored her to do so.

"Master Baggins." She called and he jumped, spinning around and laughing slightly when he saw her as he pulled his hands out of his pockets.

"Thank you, miss Kara." He quickly said as he took the food from her offered hands.

"Are you ok? You're very jumpy."

"I'm okay. I haven't had a seven course meal for a long while though."

Kara laughed. "How can you eat a seven course meal?"

"It's what we hobbits do." He stated simply. "Most people say boys are bad cooks but that is not normally true."

"I dunno." Kara sang with a whistle. "Bombur can cook a mean dish when he has unlimited ingredients. So can my mother...I don't think it's about gender."

"Who is your mother?"

"Her name is Dis." Kara replied. "She worries. We try our hardest to reassure her that we are, in fact, nothing to be worth worrying about."

Bilbo laughed slightly. "Fair enough." He shivered, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I'll get you some extra furs from Bofur." Kara decided, observant eyes being put to helpful use and he nodded his thanks as she did just that and his shivering calmed down.

"Kara!" Bombur called. "Can you give these to your brothers?"

"Of course." She took two bowls of the stew, nodding her thanks before scanning her eyes for her brothers. She trotted to the stream, frowning when they weren't in sight and she lay the bowls onto a broken log and gently called their names. She didn't want to alert her uncle unless it was urgent. She started to panic more and more as she ran along the edge of the river, getting louder and louder as her head whipped back and forth whilst she searched for them.

Meanwhile, Fili was beginning to question how watering ponies could lead to the position that they were in at that moment. A pony getting spooked and falling into the river with a splash, him and his brother panicking as they dived in, the current dragging the three down...oops. Just oops. The ponies reins got caught onto a messy tree trunk that had fallen and some of which was in the river and Fili kicked frantically to hold on to it as the rushing current and it's roaring sound tried to stop that from happening.

"Grab the styrup!" Kili yelled and Fili complied, yanking it out of the water as he threw it over the top. Kili grabbed ahold of the other one and one hand was on each as he started to tug the pony to where it would be able to stand up. The atmosphere wasn't exactly what one would call enjoyable.

Thorin glanced up when he heard an extremely distant pony howl and he was on his feet in the next second. His niece tore through the bushes looking completely panicked and he immediately knew for certain that something was amiss.

"Uncle! I can't find Fili and Kili anywhere!"

"I think..." He didn't finish his sentence for he found himself sprinting towards the river side and he could thankfully hear the company following. Kara could have sworn that her heart fell out of her chest when they reached the edge and stared at the scene. She moved to dive in but Balin and Gloin held her back as Thorin jumped in, throwing a rope - that he had grabbed off of Bifur - expertly to hook around the stirrup which Fili held up and he was able to move across without being dragged by the thrashing and evil current. He knew that Fili and Kili couldn't let go or they would be dragged but he was able to clamber up the other side and yank the ponies reins, unhooking them off of the branch as he dragged it to the side and it hauled itself up, hooves slipping as it struggled to not break the rocks before it shook the water off of its fur with a neigh.

However good that may seem, Kara found herself breaking out of Dwalin's grip and diving clumsily into the water without second thought when Fili's grip slipped from the stirrup because Thorin had suddenly tugged on it and he screamed their names as the brother tried desperately to come up as they got stolen by the current. Kili joined him a moment later for when the pony was clambering out of the water he felt it make hard contact with his face, knocking the vision out of him for a moment as everything blurred and his body numbed as he unintentionally let the current take him as his fingers uncurled from the piece of bark that he had been gripping onto once he let go of the pony stirrups. Kara was gripping onto the sides as she followed the direction of her brothers. A small waterfall made her squeal until it broke out into a large, yet much calmer lake. She caught sight of a pile of floating blonde locks which she grabbed onto with her hand and the princess yanked Fili up who desperately gasped for breath.

"Where is Kili?" He asked as he choked on his spit and the water that had flown into his mouth and down his throat, making him painfully gag. "And why are you in here?! Kara you could have gotten hurt!"

"You're worrying about that now?!" She exclaimed as she searched around for the brunette. A soaking Thorin ran along the side and sighed in relief as he saw them kicking in the now slowly flowing water.

"Are you ok?" He asked roughly, seemingly irritated about the fact that his niece had broken out of Dwalin's firm grip and done something reckless. What did he promise her mother again? Oh, yes, right, he would watch out for them.

"Aye!" Fili called.

"Where's your brother?" Thorin asked, noticing their concerned expressions as they both whipped their heads back and forth, searching under the water for a mass of brown hair. Some of the company ran onto the side and stared in relief at the people alive before noticing their stricken expressions and they started to look through the water.

"Kili!" Kara screamed as she searched around frantically, watching Fili dive under and re-surface as he blinked bleary eyes that he earned himself from looking under the water for his brother.

"I was hoping that the ponies wouldn't be a burden." Both siblings spun around in the water to see Dwalin holding Kili slightly above the water as he began to swim to the edge. Kara glanced at Fili before following suit as she ignored Dwalin's last comment.

* * *

"Are you certain you're okay?" Kara asked for the millionth time that day as she pressed the wet bandage on the side of Kili's forehead, soaking the cloth in deep red that blended in with clear liquid.

"Aye." He said after a groan as he glared at her.

"What's the matter? Besides almost drowning..." She asked innocently.

"What were you doing in the water?" He asked.

"I dived in because my brothers were in trouble! Fili, don't you dare say whatever that open mouth of yours is going to say because if you both saw me being dragged down a hard current where the water could easily swallow you you wouldn't think twice before diving in!"

A chuckle sounded behind them as Thorin entered the area. "See boys?" He asked as he sat down, sticking some form of plaster that Oin had lended him on the large gash as Kili grimaced at the contact.

"Kara, walk with me." Thorin ordered and the princess glanced at her brothers who nodded encouragingly and she stood up, following her uncle away from ear-shot of any member of the company. "When Karan died...I was most upset that you alone had to witness it. The guilt I felt at that moment was overwhelming."

_Where is this conversation going?_

"But it wasn't your fault..."

"I know." Thorin promised. "But I couldn't help that feeling. When orcs killed my little brother, my grandfather, my father, and then _your_ father and knowing that you watched him die and then joked about the creatures that caused that event triggered me and I snapped. I apologize - what I said was incorrect. You do know at least something of the world." He teased slightly and she laughed as she embraced him for a moment before pulling apart and grinning up at him.

"Menu gajatu." She promised and he smiled a rare, meaningful smile as he stroked her hair fondly.

"My brave niece." He smiled. "I knew you would be a warrior." Kara immediately felt guilty for what she had thought at home - he _did_ think he was good enough. She knew her uncle was never one to say something if he didn't mean it. He spoke his thoughts. The scent of food hit their noses, interrupting the rare yet precious moment in time.

"Come on." He ordered, putting a hand on her back to guide her. "I think dinner is served."

* * *

**There we go! Menu gajatu roughly means** **_you are forgiven_ ** **in dwarvish, just incase you were wondering :) Review!**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	6. Trouble With The Trolls

_"Kili! Tell me a story, please!" A five year old Kara begged as she bounded onto the bed, so Fili grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap with ease in an attempt to settle the energy down somewhat._

_"Calm down or Kili won't be able to tell you a story." He laughed._

_She looked at Kili expectantly. "A story?" He asked slowly._

_"Yeah! About warriors and weapons, with giant nasty trolls!" She exclaimed exuberantly whilst she held her arms out to emphasise their size._

_"Okay. Mahal knows nobody can say no to you." Kili muttered, causing Fili to laugh and Kara to cock her head in confusion._

_"What?"_

_"Nothing." Fili chuckled._

_"Kili!" She whined._

_"Okay! Er...once upon a time there was a princess. She got really bored so she left her home and ventured into the woods to search for adventure." Kara leaned forward in interest from where she sat, finally having found her comfy spot and was able to stop squirming around. "A giant troll snatched her up, and told her that he wanted to eat her." Kara gasped at the thought, whilst Kili picked up speed as he figured out what he wanted to say. "Her two brothers noticed that she was missing and made their way to the forest where they found her tracks and followed them..." He was interrupted when Thorin entered the room, face pale and bloody. He laid eyes on them and span around._

_"Sorry. I didn't realize you three were in here." He mumbled, moving to exit._

_"Wait! Uncle are you ok?" Fili asked in concern._

_"Nothing to worry your little heads about."_

_"What happened?" Kara asked._

_"We just got into a meddle with some trolls. Nothing important." he replied._

_"Kili just told us part of a story about trolls! He was just getting to the good part!" Kara informed him in excitement, whilst Thorin turned around and glared at Kili who breathed a few laughs and looked down to hide his grin awkwardly._

_"What did we say about scaring your sister?" Kili laughed and Fili nudged him as Thorin's glare deepened. "Kili this is no time to be laughing!" His smile dropped and he bit his lip._

_"Uncle, come on..." Fili started._

_"It wasn't scary!" Kara interrupted. "It was awesome! What if trolls..."_

_"Kara enough!" Thorin bellowed before swinging the door open with a huff and leaving the room. Kara flinched, staring at the door in hurt as her happiness dropped. Fili and Kili glanced at each other sadly, though Kili was the first to take action and he seated himself next to her, tucking an arm around her waist in concern._

_"What's wrong sweetie?" he asked, though he knew the answer._

_"U...uncle hates me."_

_Fili gasped at the thought. "That is not true Kara! Uncle loves you!"_

_"Besides, if he's mad at anyone it's me. I told the story - you just listened."_

_"Yeah!" Fili joined them on the floor as he nodded in agreement. "We can just blame it all on Kili. It's always his fault." He stated with a smirk as Kara giggled through hiccups and a few tears._

_"Uncle loves you sweetie, remember that."_

_"Sometimes he has a bad day. He will apologize later. Okay?"_

_"Okay." Kara agreed as her happiness slightly lifted._

_Not five minutes later Thorin entered, looking rather guilty. He glanced at his eldest nephew whom had a flicker of anger in his eyes, and Thorin knew why. He was being protective - Thorin hurts Kara, Fili gets mad. Thorin smiled slightly at that before seating himself next to his niece as the brothers scooted away. Kara pretended to be interested in a dent in the floor._

_"Kara, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry for yelling earlier."_

_"It's alright, uncle." The sound she made was barely audible._

_"No its not. I've had a bad day. We lost a man whilst fighting trolls, and it was very sad." Kara looked up to him with wide eyes. "But I shouldn't have snapped. I'm sorry." She hugged him and he placed his head on top of hers in sadness. "Did Kili finish his story?"_

_"No." Kara stated, a sudden exciting burst rushing through her veins._

_"Well, come on Kili."_

_"I thought we weren't allowed to tell our sister scary stories." Kili pointed out. "Those are the rules." Fili rolled his eyes and nudged his brother as Thorin scoffed._

_"Don't start with my rules with me." He ordered and Kili laughed._

_"Now finish the story!" Kara pleaded._

_"Um..." Kili looked around thoughtfully. "Well..." An idea struck his mind and he smiled. "The brothers found her being held up by the nasty troll. They discussed a quiet battle plan - the older one would sneak behind them whilst the younger distracted them. So they did just that - the younger one tore out of the bushes and demanded that they give the princess back. So they hurled her at him and she was fine, watching in satisfaction as the older one stabbed one of the big ones in the back of the leg."_

_"And then..." Fili continued as Kili gestured for him to tell the next part. "The princess saw the other one running away and she ran after it, climbing up the back of its leg and stood on his head, raising her fist triumphantly as she killed it with a battle cry before running safely into the arms of her older brothers."_

_"It all ended well. She saved the day." Kili finished, slapping his hands onto his knees._

_Kara squealed in happiness and looked up at her uncle. "Do you think I could kill a mountain troll?"_

_"Maybe Kara." He chuckled, throwing an arm around her. "Maybe."_

* * *

Kara's dream abruptly ended, though she liked the finish and sat up with a smile.

"What did you dream about?" She turned around and found the source of the voice - Fili. Whenever she woke up she found her senses still asleep, until she actually moved her body.

"Just something that happened ages ago. It was when we were younger - Kili told a story about mountain trolls and Thorin got mad and snapped. We made up in the end though."

"Oh mahal, I remember that!" Fili smiled fondly. "You were so easy to upset." He teased as Kara punched him playfully and he coughed at the smoke from his pipe that caught in his throat whilst he laughed.

"Serves you right." She muttered, rubbing her eyes and stretching before standing up, listening to her limbs crack with satisfaction. She looked around and dropped her arms. "Where's Kili?" She asked.

"Uncle sent him hunting with Gloin at like two in the morning."

"He should have sent someone else - Kili has barely slept!"

"Yeah but he uses a bow which is better for hunting. And he's still being punished for the prank on Nori."

Kara burst out laughing at the memories of the incident. Nori had been madder than Kara had ever seen him.

It was always the three at fault and Thorin would always pin the punishment on Kili, but Kara honestly thought the brunette was over caring. Fili packed up his bedroll, Kara following suit. She took a sip of water which filled her dry mouth and she swirled it around with her tongue, before wondering over to her pony and feeding it a carrot with a pat to its shoulder. Everyone woke up and Kili and Gloin eventually re-entered with a stag thrown over Gloin's shoulder, who was grumbling something about 'stupid forests with constant trees in the way' which Bombur made into a small and quick breakfast which she ate with delight. They had missed breakfast for the last three days and she had been pining for the satisfaction that they gave her in the morning, for they were by far her favourite meal.

The ride was pretty uneventful that day. She was getting rather bored of the uncomfortable sound of soft wind gushes and pony hooves trampling on the dead leaves or just the straight up muddy ground through the small forest, but sped up the time by getting to know their burglar a bit more. He told her stories of the shire, some of which she actually found hilarious - though she could never imagining living in the life of a hobbit - with the silliness of them, and in return she introduced him to the life of Fili, Kili and Kara as children. He was very interested in the tales that the trio had to offer for him, which were many. Kara could speak for a week without stopping about their child life - she had made an uncountable amount of memories which she would cherish forever.

By the end of the day she was excited to get off of her pony, and she could tell the poor creature had been longing to stop all day. He neighed happily and nuzzled his nose against her shoulder so she tickled the faithful creature under the ear which she knew he loved.

"Kara! Whilst your over there look after the ponies with your brothers! Make sure you stay with them." _Dang it._ She had yearned to join the company around that blazing fire, for she could feel the comfort that the warm aroma gave her from where she stood. Fili and Kili looked at each other, rolling their eyes as they joined their sister to accomplish their appointed task. They lead the ponies into the woods, close enough to the company to feel safe but far enough away to do what they want without suffering Thorin's wrath. Fili knelt down, picking up a water bowl as he let a pony drink from it.

Kili crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. "This is so boring!"

"Well what do you want me to do?" Fili asked.

"Magic us out of here. Unbore me." Kili replied.

"Hey, we'll be done soon." Kara commented. "Hopefully."

"Or not." Kili answered. "Have you noticed that like...Ori never gets a job?"

"He's the scribe!" Kara defended her innocent little friend.

"Dori then."

"He..." Fili started to say.

"Looks after Ori?" Kili asked and he nodded.

"Yeah."

" _Elves_ are probably having more fun that we are right now." The brunette grumbled.

"I doubt that." Kara declared. "They spend their lives climbing trees. One of these days you'd think they'd understand that they aren't spiderman."

"Sometimes trees can be helpful." Kili argued, hopping up into one and disappearing. Fili stood up from his awkward bent and looked around but he couldn't see his brother.

"Kili." Kara warned. "I have a knife in my boot." A stick making contact with a trunk made both siblings spin around. Fili stepped forward, sword out as Kili swung down, hanging upside down from a tree branch as he laughed when Fili startled and fell back, falling to the floor. Kara guffawed as she watched the scene in amusement. Kili got down and stared at Fili who still held his sword out defensively.

"Will you put the dang sword down, Mulan?" He asked and Fili rolled his eyes but obeyed, listening to it as it smoothly slipped back into his sheath. Kara's gaze was fixed on something else and the brothers cocked their heads questioningly.

"Boys, how many ponies were there?"

"Sixteen." They answered in unison.

"Some are missing!" She declared frantically.

"Kara we've been here the whole time." Fili told her, counting just to make sure.

"She's right." Kili concluded and the three stood, staring with absolutely no idea what to do. A voice behind them made them jump slightly but they didn't turn around.

"W...whats the matter?" Bilbo asked, three bowls of steaming stew in his hands which he longed to put down.

"We're supposed to be looking after the ponies." Kili began.

"Only we've encountered a...slight problem." Fili continued.

"We had sixteen and now there's uh...fourteen." Kara finished as she looked worriedly back at the hobbit. They wandered around the area, observing the ponies as they tried to figure out what was going on. "Daisy and Bungle are missing." Kili confirmed.

"Well that is not good. That is not good at _all,_ shouldn't we tell Thorin?"

"Uh, no! We don't need to worry him." Kara spoke up quickly - the last thing she wanted to do was anger her uncle for... _perhaps no reason? Maybe it was nothing._

Trees had been knocked over, so they came to the conclusion that it was of a being rather large, which made her wishes highly unlikely to be true. "Hey, there's a light!" Fili gestured for them to come over and the four crouched behind a log, listening to the voices a fair ways off as they tried to suss out who was in the camp with the light that Kara realized was, in fact, a fire.

"What is it?" Bilbo asked, and Kara glanced at him, furrowing her brow when she saw he was still holding the stupid stew! She didn't broach the subject though for they had bigger... _issues,_ to deal with.

"Trolls." Kili answered, the words rolling off of his tongue in disgust as he got up and ran forward, the three following suit. They gazed in shock at a huge creature, whose stomps made the ground shake as it carried two more of the ponies away which made startled sounds as they rocked in the arms of the troll.

"He's got Myrtle and Minty!" The hobbit realized in irritation. "I think they're going to eat them we've got to do something!"

The three peered up at him simultaneously. "Yes! You should!" Kara stood up and placed her hands on his shoulders, directing him towards the situation.

"Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small they'll never see you!" Kili explained. The hobbit stuttered as he shook his head, repeating the word 'no' over and over as he tried to fight Kara's grip. "It's perfectly safe! We'll be right behind you." The archer pointed out.

"If you run into trouble hoot twice like a brown owl, once like a brown owl." Fili told him, as Kara gave him the final push into the camp. They watched in amusement as Bilbo hesitantly looked back, asking if it was a good idea before rolling his eyes when he saw that the three had gone. They were just behind the trees though, watching the scene unfold. The hobbit noticed that the ropes holding in the ponies were thick, so when he spotted a weapon attached to a rope around the waist of a troll he made his way over. The burglar attempted to cut it, only to be picked up by a large hand which appeared to think he was a hanky, and the troll holding him blew snot all over him. Kara gagged in her mouth and faked being sick to her brothers who nodded in agreement.

"That went well." Kili muttered.

"You sent him in there." Kara hissed. Kili was about to argue but Fili interrupted.

"I'm gonna go and get Thorin. Don't interfere unless you have to." He ordered sternly, before vanishing. Kara clambered up a tree where she knew the view would be better, watching as Bilbo tried to convince the three that there was nobody else around, though it was rather difficult considering the situation that he was in. She jumped down and looked at Kili who bit his lip.

"Remember that story I told you years ago? I distract, Fili kills?"

"Yup."

"We're doing it."

"What?" Kara hissed, watching as he ran off. "Kili!" She rolled her eyes and snuck through the trees around the edge of the camp as he disappeared from view, tearing through the bushes. He struck their legs with his sword, the troll hopping on only one as he clutched his leg to his chest with a high-pitched yelp of pain whilst the other two stared in confusion at the dwarf.

"Drop him!" Kara flinched at the harsh tone that spilled from her brothers lips.

"You what?" The troll asked.

"I said...drop him!" The moment Bilbo was hurled at Kili Kara ran out from her position, stabbing it hard in the back of the leg and it collapsed onto it's butt, meaning she had to dodge to avoid being crushed. Thorin and Fili then bounded into their line of sight, followed by the rest of the company who yelled a battle cry as they slid along the ground and attacked the three. Kara smiled, drawing her knife which she lobbed to land in between the eyes of a troll who glared daggers at her, making the move to hit her but she stabbed in in the groin with a large jump before sliding through its large legs and into Bofur. The two fell and quickly stood up, whilst she yelled an apology over the hecticness which he waved off with a grin. _Typical Bofur._

She watched Bilbo out of the corner of her eye, grinning when he made it to the ponies with a weapon, about to free them when a troll noticed and grabbed him. "Bilbo!" She exclaimed in concern, running forward to attack but Thorin grabbed her waist and yanked her back.

"No!" He yelled. If they wanted their terrified burglar to live, which most of them did, they had to drop their weapons which every single one of them reluctantly abided to. She was grabbed and forced into a sack, thrown on a pile of other dwarves also in sacks whilst some were tied above the raging fire, that lot including Fili which angered Kara. Bilbo stood up in his stack, hopping around like a bunny as he attempted to stall them with ridiculous talk. _Maybe they're as dumb as they look._ Kara hoped that was the case as one grabbed Bombur, his pretzel-like beard hanging as it was about to be in the mouth of a troll.

"Uh…not…not that one, he…he's infected!" Bilbo stuttered.

"You what?"

"Yeah he's got worms in his…tubes." Bilbo furrowed his brow at what he was saying but nodded to back up his point. The troll threw Bombur down in disgust.

"I..in fact, they all have. They're infested with parasites, it's a terrible business, I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't." Kara smiled, hoping that because the troll had thrown Bombur down that he wouldn't dare eat the rest of them.

"Parasites? Did he say parasites?" Oin asked,

"Yeah, we don't have parasites!" Kili exclaimed. "You have parasites!" He hissed to Bilbo. If Kara could have she would have slapped a hand to her forehead at her brothers stupidity. Thorin kicked Kili and they realized that Bilbo was trying to buy them time and quickly tried to undo what they had just said.

"I've got parasites as big as my arm!"

"Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!"

"We're riddled!"

"Yes, I'm riddled!"

"Yes, we are, badly!" Kara looked to the side, noticing Gandalf passing by and she grinned to herself - they would hopefully be saved soon.

"What would you have us do then? Let 'em all go?" One of the trolls asked.

"Well…" Bilbo started.

"You think I don't know what you're up to. This little ferret is taking us for fools!"

"Ferret?" Bilbo asked, rather offended.

"Fools?" Another troll asked , sounding completely horrified.

Right on time, Gandalf emerged from his hiding place and powered his staff with a flash of light as he whacked it against the floor. "The dawn will take you all!" He shouted, turning the trolls into stone. The dwarves laughed in joy as they unsacked themselves and glared up at the creatures.

"I think he likes you." Kili commented, pointing up to a troll with a smirk.

Kara nudged him playfully and grinned. "How do you know its a boy?" Kili scoffed, and Kara raised an eyebrow. "That was not how the events of the story went, remember?"

"To be fair Kara, I was about eight." Kili defended himself, and she laughed which abruptly came to a halt when Thorin entered their sight, looking extremely unimpressed.

"Sorry." Kara offered.

"We should have been less stupid." Kili added.

"I had nothing to do with it." Fili stated as he joined their line, though snickered at a hard smack on the shoulder by his brother. "Or maybe a little but not much." He corrected himself and the siblings rolled their eyes, but noticed the ghost of a smile that snuck onto Thorin's lips.

"I am proud for you telling me and handling it, and rescuing the hafling." He told them before marching away and the three shared surprised glances, but to be honest they weren't going to complain that there wasn't a punishment.

_Even if they kinda deserved one._

* * *

**Haha! I love this scene in the movie. What do you think? If I write their ages it is in human years because dwarf ages confuse me - they are like two years apart in human years and five in dwarf years, you know?**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	7. Rivendell

Kara whipped her head up when she heard a howl sound in what seemed to be the near distance, the noise echoing through the trees, putting every dwarf immediately into high alert. It had been about a week since the troll incident, and thinking back to the occasion made her giggle. They really had been idiots. The journey had continued relatively smoothly since then, so she was itching slightly for something to happen and mahal seemed to have heard her silent prayers, for better or worse.

The wizard in front of her, who she quickly learnt went by the strange name of Radagast, had been rambling to Gandalf about something or another for a while now, though she wasn't really paying attention, for the cute bunnies that stared at her with wide orbs as they sniffed the air melted her heart and she didn't manage to resist the constant urge to pet them.

"Was that a wolf?" Bilbo asked in terror. "Are there wolves out there?"

"Wolves?" Bofur asked. "No that is not a wolf."

They all slowly turned around when a growl sounded behind them, and Kara yanked out a knife, watching in satisfaction as it pierced the fur between the creature's eyes, knocking the warg dead to the ground from where it had leapt straight over Bofur's head. Kili quickly shot one sneaking up behind Thorin and Dwalin finished it off with his axe.

"Warg scouts!" Thorin growled. "Which means an orc pack is not far behind."

"Fun." Kara muttered as Fili unconsciously shielded his sister, making her raise an eyebrow and she stepped to the side in an attempt to see the commotion.

"Orc pack?" Bilbo questioned as though he had never heard of it before, though Kara supposed he generally probably hadn't.

Gandalf turned swiftly to face Thorin. "Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?"

"No one." Thorin answered.

"Who did you tell?" Gandalf repeated angrily, voice raising with each syllable that exited his lips.

"No one, I swear!" Thorin promised. "What in Durin's name is going on?"

"You are being hunted." The wizard declared.

"We need to leave." Kara decided as everyone murmured their agreements.

"We can't We have no ponies! They bolted!" Ori's small voice rang through their ears and Kara was tempted to sigh at mahal's inability to be even the slightest bit helpful.

"I'll draw them off." Radagast's phrase met her ears and she scoffed loudly at the thought, causing him to glare at her and she cleared her throat.

"Go on." She urged awkwardly.

"I said I can draw them off."

"These are Gundabad orcs. They will outrun you!" Gandalf told him in disbelief.

"These are Rhosgobel rabbits!" Radagast shot back, determination shining brightly in his aged eyes. "I'd like to see them try."

So they were off. The company had no idea what location they were headed to, but for whatever reason trusted the wizard who ran at the front as they followed in a line. Thorin had tried to ask about where they were going but the wizard didn't dare answer, so Kara supposed that it was something that her uncle would not want to hear. That was just after she had yanked Ori back from being spotted for the dwarf almost ran out into the plains to be trampled on by the running wargs.

Bilbo was just in front of the princess and she was initially surprised at his ability to keep up. _Maybe Gandalf really did pick him for a reason,_ she thought to herself and made a silent vow to voice these thoughts to her brothers later to stir up an open ended debate.

Wherever Radagast was they made sure not to go, for the wargs fell for the trick and chased him around the greens whilst the animal-lover threw his head back with laughs as the speedy rabbits spurred his sled forward, the creatures right on his tail though they failed to actually reach him.

They sprinted across plains, ducked under rocks, all the while chasing Gandalf. Kara briefly thought about the irony of the fact that dwarves were absolutely terrible over long distances, though they could be rather formidable whilst sprinting - especially Bombur.

Gandalf lead them to a large rock and they were forced to stand in front of it because a warg bounded onto the top of it just above them, it's practised nose clearly having caught their scent and it sniffed the air.

As they crouched behind the rock, making sure to keep up the eery and tense silence, she put a comforting hand on Bilbo's shoulder from where she knelt beside him for the hobbit was shaking profusely. He smiled thankfully at her and she returned the gesture before glancing at their uncle to ask a silent 'what do we do' question, but found his attention to be fixed on her youngest brother who stood next to the exiled king.

Thorin gestured with his eyes to Kili's bow and the archer silently slipped an arrow from the quiver before carefully laying it against his string and running out to shoot the orc and warg. The warg tensed the moment it sensed movement but it was too late to pounce for an arrow had already pierced its side and it fell down the rock. Kara leapt out and slit the orc's throat as Kili finished the warg off with another arrow.

"Move!" Gandalf ordered hastily. "Run!"

Again they obeyed, though this time it was thankfully a shorter distance. Kara spotted more wargs in the distance and Fili yanked on her arm, for she had barely heard Gandalf's 'this way' command.

They all stopped at a certain area and Kara ran down a hill and yelled to her uncle who whipped his head in her direction. "There's more coming!"

"Kili!" Thorin yelled. "Shoot them!"

"We're surrounded!" Fili called worriedly.

"Where's Gandalf?" Kara asked.

"He's abandoned us!" Dwalin yelled in irritation and Kara resisted the urge to curse as she yanked out a knife and chucked it to meet an orc's neck and it fell off of its warg. The more closer the enemies drew, the more knives Kara was using and she began to worry that she was going to run out.

"Hold your ground!" Thorin ordered.

"This way, you fools!" Gandalf popped up from behind a rock and Kara rolled her eyes. _Why couldn't he have showed up earlier?_ Everyone began to sprint in that direction, desperate to escape the jaws of death and they slid un-gracefully down the rock where the wizard was located. It was soon just her and her brothers fighting the remainder of the lot, but what Fili and Kili didn't notice was that their sister was beginning to gag at the sudden pain that erupted in her stomach.

"Kara!" Kili yelled at two orcs that snuck up behind her and she threw her hand back, still staring at the ground as she swallowed the pain and forcefully twisted one's arm, causing it to fall to the ground with a squeal. She pulled out a knife and stabbed the other in the shoulder with as much strength as she could muster which appeared to be very little and it took three stabs to completely defeat it.

She peered at the dead bodies wearily, all the while wincing at the stabbing burden laced in her tummy. She bent down to retrieve her knife and a new type of pain shot through her stomach, causing a weak scream to escape her throat and her legs buckled beneath her and she couldn't control the way her body collapsed to the ground. Loud, pain-filled groans escaped her lips as tears rolled freely down her cheeks. The last thing she saw before passing out from the pain was her golden haired brother darting towards her at an incredible speed.

* * *

"Kara!" The brothers screamed in unison.

"Mahal! Brother, cover for me!" Fili ordered as he sprinted towards his sister and Kili nodded, whipping out his bow though he shot constant glances over his shoulder to his siblings as Fili cradled his baby sister in his arms.

"Fili! It may be a bit more helpful if you take her down the rock!" Kili pointed out as he barely dodged a knife thrown in his direction.

"Right." Fili agreed, picking up Kara carefully, trying not to jostle the unknown source of the pain.

Thorin frowned when his nephews and niece were yet to make an appearance in the little cave which housed eleven dwarves, a wizard, a hobbit and one deceased orc who had an arrow of elvish make embedded in his chest. He ran back up, startling at the sight of Fili running with a limp burden in his arms, Kili following behind, trying to stop orcs from nearing at a too-close distance.

"Kara..." He murmured in concern as he practically dragged Fili down the stone. "What in mahal's name happened?"

"She just collapsed!" Fili stated hastily. "Oin!"

The old healer rushed over and frowned at the state of her side, as he began to look the princess over. "Is she ok?" Kili asked as he ran over and gasped at the sight, more so at how drunken she looked and the way her head lolled back.

"She only has a few minor scratches but they aren't deep enough for her to lose enough blood to cause a state of unconsciousness." He began to rattle to himself as the company impatiently waited for an explanation. Oin eventually frowned and turned to his companions. "I don't know what is wrong with her so it would be best to move her somewhere indoors where we can check her properly, but let Dwalin carry her for he has an arm span long enough to support her head and neck." The hunky warrior stepped forward to do said task as Gandalf made himself known.

"Bring her this way."

"Where does that passageway lead?" Thorin demanded.

"The valley of Imladris." Gandalf declared, noting Thorin's expression of complete and utter disapproval. "In common tongue it is known by another name."

Thorin turned and watched his company disappear down the passageway after a debate between Balin and Bofur before spinning back around to the wizard. "Rivendell?!" he scoffed at Gandalf's silence. "This was your plan all along. To seek refuge with our enemy."

"Thorin Oakenshield, are you really going to pass up an opportunity to heal your possibly dying niece?" Gandalf asked, gesturing to the princess who lay limply in Dwalin's arms as the warrior followed through the passageway with Fili, Kili and Oin fussing over her.

The exiled king sighed and relented, silently gesturing for Gandalf to walk as he joined his nephews. He helped check the unconscious dwarf for the thousandth time until their eyes rested on a truly beautiful sight.

Elves greeted them as they entered, the dwarves taking in the detail of the designs on each pillar, each wall, each little crevice. They were so intricate that nobody could think they could see a spot with no hint of decoration. Not that they would ever admit it, but it was none other than beautiful, though dwarves would never in a million years live there. It was far to elvish for their taste.

Dwalin lay Kara carefully on the floor and Thorin gently stroked a stray hair from her face as Gandalf ran over with Elrond. "She still has a pulse." Thorin informed them, glaring at Elrond bitterly though he moved out of the way when the elf walked over, dragging his protesting nephews with him.

"Elrond, can you do anything?" Gandalf asked.

When Elrond looked at Kara his heart moved - she was so young. Too young to be lost to mahal's halls. "I can try." He concluded as he touched her skin. "She's so cold. We need to warm the body."

"Don't call her that!" Kili snapped as everyone turned to stare at him in surprise.

"Sorry." Elrond held up his hands defensively. "Are you her boyfriend?"

"No, are you?" Kili bit out before he could stop himself as Fili put a hand on his shoulder with an almost embarrassed expression plastered on his face.

Elrond felt a ghost of a smile creep onto his lips. "Fili and Kili." Gandalf stated at the elf's questioning gaze. "Nephews of Thorin."

Elrond nodded and lifted Kara off of the ground, though not before a quick glance to Thorin for conformation who nodded, though his hot glare didn't vanish as Elrond made the gesture, for Thorin didn't like the thought of his niece in anybody's arms but his own. This didn't go unnoticed by the elven lord but he didn't have time to worry and hurried the girl away and into a healing room. He tried to order Fili and Kili to stay out but after hearing the curses of protest that spilled from both of their lips he spoke no more, realising that if they encouraged her to fight they may be the deciding factors of whether or not she lived to see another day.

* * *

Kara wasn't fond of strange situations.

She had never actually been in one where it felt like she was lying on a soft cloud that she could easily fall through at any moment, yet she could hear the constant shuffle of feet around her whilst different voices rang in her ears, some unfamiliar and some she wanted to hug the source of. Kara wanted to protest at the amount of noise but irritatingly found herself unable to do so.

She slowly cracked open her eyes, the soft cloud feeling abruptly vanishing, much to her dismay, as the feeling of something a little harder made an appearance and she stiffened her numb limbs.

"Fili!" She vaguely heard her brother's voice. "I think she's awake!"

"What?" The other familiar voice met her ears and she found herself smiling slightly, squinting due to the light when she cracked her stubborn fluttering eyelids open. "Kara?"

"Hmm?" She groaned. "Am I dead?"

"No!" Fili and Kili barked simultaneously.

"You are alive, sweetie." Kili concluded as Fili's hand grasped her own and she smiled once again, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, much to the concern to the others in the room. When she re-opened them they were so much clearer than they had previously been and she groaned, flexing her back which caused a crack to sound before she tilted her head to the side, soaking in the warmth of the emitting heat from the roaring fire blazing across the room.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"Rivendell." Kili answered gruffly, making Kara giggle slightly and the brothers cracked a smile. "Elrond is healing you."

"Oh." She let her eyes drift to the other side and cringed at the amount of healing tools that littered the table. "Why does my stomach hurt so bad?" She groaned as the faces of her brothers dimmed.

"You have an ulcer in your stomach." Fili admitted.

"It will heal. Elrond is magic so your in good hands." Kili soothed gently.

Kara looked down, vain sadness too evident for the liking of her brothers who sighed but before either could offer any more comfort the door opened and Elrond stepped in.

"Ah. I see you are awake. That is good news." He concluded as he put a hand to her forehead. She grimaced slightly at the contact. "Your temperature has lowered considerably to what it was. That's good - I need you to take the pills slowly and I'll let your brothers lift you enough so you won't choke. Once you've taken them you can't sleep for twelve hours, ok? So not through the night." Kara nodded in understanding and let her brothers lift her up by the shoulders, She managed to take the pills with relatively no issues before she lay back down. "Lady Kara, would you care to explain why there were traces of HGH in your system?" The elven lord eventually questioned.

Kara frowned. She honestly had no idea. "I don't know."

"Has someone had their hands on your drinks?"

"I don't think so." Kara muttered in response, racking her brain to try and remember though she couldn't. Deep down though, memories of the past resurfaced and she shivered slightly. This was something that a phsyco would do to her.

 _No._ She mentally slapped herself. _They haven't showed up for years. They're gone._

"Remember not to sleep." He told her curtly before spinning on his heels and leaving the room as she wearily stared after him.

Fili noticed her depressed looking expression and he shook his head, misunderstanding what was troubling her. "Ulcers heal. It's not forever, Kar."

Kili widened his eyes in realisation. "Yeah, but she's got like a hole_"

"Yes, brother, there's a hole in her stomach, moving on." Fili stared at him pointedly before sighing. "Where are the drugs from?"

"I don't know." Kara replied, annoyed at their skeptical expressions. "Ok, I don't know but something tells me there's someone after me." She remembered the figure that darted away through the bushes, the figure in the troll caves...it was all to suspicious. "I can't lie anymore."

"Not if it's eating holes in your stomach." Kili muttered.

"Moving on..." Fili hissed. "Who could it be?"

Thorin ran into the room at that moment with a drink in hand. He perched on the end of his niece's bed who rapidly clamped her lips shut. "I got here as soon as possible, love. My company just seems to cause havoc everywhere they go." The siblings snickered as Thorin held out a drink to Kara. "I got your favourite."

Kara looked down despondently and Fili cringed. "Uh, she can't drink coffee."

"Yeah." Kili agreed. "She's got a hole in her stomach."

Thorin slapped him on the back of the neck lightly before standing up. "I'll go and trade this in for herbal tea." He stated, muttering a final 'I'll be back in a minute' before leaving.

"Who do you think is after you?" Fili repeated, once his uncle was out of ear-shot.

"Who knows. I'm seriously considering ending this thing and moving far away to the Iron Hills." Kara muttered. "I mean, if some random person is attacking me, Kili's probably next!"

"Can we _all_ go to the Iron Hills?" Kili questioned after hearing that phrase.

"No!" Fili exclaimed as he glared at his brother. "Are you hungry?" The blonde heir asked, changing the topic.

"I can't really eat." She murmured sadly.

"Brother, stop forgetting she has a hole in her stomach."

"Kili, I know there is a hole, now shut up!" Fili exclaimed in annoyance.

"But the hole_"

"Moving on!" Fili yelled to him across the room and he shut his mouth as Kara bit her bottom lip to stop herself from giggling.

Thorin re-entered before the conversation could be continued and when he noticed her looking boredly across the room he began to hum a tune that she and her brothers had known since they were dwarflings. "Far over the misty mountains cold..."

* * *

"Sit down, sit." An elf encouraged as Fili and Kili reluctantly sat next to the other members of the company who greeted them with smiles. Thorin had ordered them to go and grab some food for their sister who was patiently waiting for Elrond to come back inside and give her some different medication for the throbbing pain in her head, - although the ulcer was on its way to clearing up, the healing resources responsible for that had wound up giving her a really bad headache. They supposed now it was just the after affects of the treatment to battle, but all knew for a fact that she could easily handle that.

As he told them to go and get food (and eat themselves) he also told Fili to do a quick checkup on his company and make sure nobody had died from doing something ridiculous. It took at least ten minutes of protest, but eventually they gave in and reluctantly left the injured lass's side.

"For a few minutes." Fili decided, for his heart and stomach both did indeed soar at the mention of food.

"I'm sure Thorin has told you we like our greens." She politely made conversation as she poured them onto their plates and they both stared at them in disgust.

Kili leant back with a grimace. "He has but we're not gonna hold it against you..."

She ignored that comment and left with a final smile whilst Fili nudged his brother. "Eat some."

Kili looked away from the elf who he couldn't help but think a little pretty before looking back at the plate. He picked up a piece of...what even was it? _Lettuce?_ He put it in his mouth and swallowed in disgust whilst he gagged.

Fili rolled his eyes. "At least pretend it tastes good."

Kili looked at him doubtfully. "But it doesn't."

"You're not wrong there, lad." Bofur chuckled. "How is the lassie?"

"She's awake." Fili declared.

"You've been with her all night?" Dwalin asked as Fili nodded. "Protective." He mumbled. "A good trait, if you ask me. But only some can handle it."

Fili frowned. "Was that a compliment? Or an insult?" He asked Kili who tilted his head in wonder.

"I'd say it's a toss up."

* * *

When Kara took the medicine it had been about eleven at night and her eyelids were constantly fluttering unevenly as she tried to stop them from drooping closed for she absolutely yearned to sleep. She was unimaginably tired, though hadn't been allowed to sleep out of fear that she would fall into Mahal's clutches. Well, that was her blonde brother's fear. "Fili? Fili, are you awake?"

"Mhmph." Fili groaned, rubbing his eyelids awake. "What is it, Kay?"

"I want to see the sunrise."

Fili nodded in understanding. "Oh. I'm not sure if that is a good idea."

"Elrond said I can't walk, but I can look." Kara protested.

Fili relented and wrapped her in a blanket, easing her into his arms. She was fairly light, though even if she was extremely heavy he would be used to the weight. He carried her everywhere - carried her from the couch to bed when she fell asleep, carried her when she was sick, carried her when she was tired, carried her when she was too ill to stand but wanted to see the beautiful snowdrops cascade from the sky.

They made it to a balcony, just as the sun was peeking brightly over the horizon. Fili sat down with Kara in his lap as she nestled into the warmth that he and the blanket combined provided. He held her close against the chill of the morning. She let out a deep sigh and Fili immediately knew something else was wrong.

"What is it, Kay?"

"I um..." She hesitated. _Should she tell him? Would he think she was stupid? No!_ She mentally smacked herself. _This is Fili! He'll understand better than anyone_. In the past, Fili had always been her source of guidance. Whilst Fili was the one she went to when she needed help, Kili was the one she went to when she needed fun, but she decided that Fili would perhaps offer a more logical explanation than her youngest brother so she found the events from the last few days tumbling out of her lips.

There wasn't much to say, but she could swear she had seen someone.

"Don't panic." Fili soothed as he mentally hit himself, trying to figure out how he didn't know about any of this. "We'll figure it out."

Kara nodded, mind at ease that Fili would help her get to the bottom of the mystery. "I love you, Fee."

"I love you too. More than anything."

"Even sunrises?" Kara asked with wide eyes.

Fili chuckled and kissed her forehead. "You are a sunrise. A sunrise that will always be the most precious thing in the world to me, over absolutely anything else. Never forget that."

He was met with silence, though he thought he heard the sound of a door shutting behind him but he shook it off and waited awhile before he began to worry a little. "Kay? You asleep?" He watched the rise and fall of her chest with a smile and before resting his gaze on the rest of the beautiful sunrise with his head on top of hers, before he eventually brought her back to bed. He tucked the blanket up to her chin before deciding that she was well enough to let him share the bed and he crept in, the feeling of sinking into the mattress calming his limbs that were stiffened from constantly sitting in a chair. He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Kara looked up from the bed and grinned at her brothers who entered the room with a tray of food in Fili's arms, and by just laying eyes on the food she could easily judge that it looked rather unappetizing but her stomach was rumbling so consistently she felt as though she could stomach eating a human leg there and then.

Fili carefully lay the tray of food on the end of the bed and she sighed. "I wasn't expecting this yesterday."

"Neither were we. Never do that again." Kili ordered.

Kara frowned. "Do what?"

"Not tell us if you're feeling ill."

Kara realised what he was going on about and nodded though it was mixed with an uncertain frown. "But I wasn't feeling ill. I just...got a bit distracted in the battle and I guess someone did something to me whilst I wasn't looking." She lied. The princess recalled not yelling for help when the pain had suddenly erupted in her stomach but she knew that she had decided to want nothing more than to not be a burden. She had said that she was ready for the dangers of this quest, so ready she was.

"Distracted by what? Sweetie, you were fighting orcs!" His voice was laced with incredulity, for what is there to be distracted by in battle other than the terrified birds flapping their wings wildly as they try desperately to escape the horrific engagement?!

"I know! It was weird." Kara was beginning to feel rather perturbed at her brother's irritated tone.

"It wasn't the battle and you know it."

"How was I supposed to know about the drugs?!" She interrogated sharply.

"You never ate because you were feeling pain in your stomach that you didn't tell us about, _and_ suspiciously threw up out of the blue which is impossible when there's nothing to throw up. I mean, hello!"

"Kili, enough." Thorin ordered sternly.

"We didn't notice." Fili pointed out, shooting a concerned glance to his uncle.

"Gee Fee, do you think that could be why our sister almost died?"

"Why were you not looking out for your sister like you said you would?" Thorin asked gruffly. "How did _you_ not notice?"

"We don't all have your vast ability to be a know-it-all tyrant, uncle." Kili snapped as he stood up and stormed out of the room. Something other than rage or worry had contorted his features and Kara wasn't sure what. Maybe it was his many unbridled emotions rolled into one to just make him detonate.

Thorin flinched slightly at the words and Kara sighed. "I didn't mean to make him mad."

"He's not mad at you, Kara. He didn't want you to die." Fili reassured as he stroked her arm gently. At that moment Elrond entered, having seen the dwarf storm out of the room which confused him but he spoke nothing of it as he put a hand to her forehead. Thorin cringed at the contact but stilled his anger and spoke nothing of the matter.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked.

"A little." She breathed. "There isn't a stabbing pain anywhere anymore so for that, I thank you."

He nodded curtly. "Don't mention it. Go to sleep now. You must be shattered."

She shook her head firmly as she positively looked forward to obeying said order, wincing slightly at the pain that jostled her headache when she did so. "Gladly."

"I will leave you to it." He declared as he swiftly exited, Thorin trailing miserably after him for Elrond had requested that he and a couple of others read the moon runes that night. He thought that he ought to check up on his company too, for he was aware of the fact that it could end disastrously if he left them even a minute alone, though he trusted the white-haired aged advisor of the group to keep them in line.

* * *

Kara woke with a stretch and looked around, prodding her sleeping brother who startled awake. "Hey!" She exclaimed. "This is my bed!"

Fili laughed. "I thought you wouldn't mind. I shared last night too, you know." Kara snarled playfully before throwing over the sheets. "Feel better?"

"So much better." She breathed. "They are magic."

"I don't think elves are as bad as uncle says." Fili declared. "At least, not here."

Kara sat up with a mumbled agreement, looking around the room as she groped blindly for her shoes on the floor of her bedside. "Where's Kili?" Fili frowned and she widened her eyes. "He never came back last night!"

"Don't jump to conclusions." Fili replied sleepily as he too got out of bed. "Let's go and find him."

* * *

They entered the elven halls where the company sat, impatiently awaiting their breakfast. Their uncle sat at the head of the table and the two wandered over to the leader who looked up and smiled in greeting. "How do you feel?" He immediately asked his niece.

"Better." Kara replied. "Did you read the moon runes?"

"Aye." Thorin replied stiffly through a sigh. "We need to be at the door on the last light of Durin's day."

She nodded. "When do we leave Rivendell?"

"I don't know." He answered. "I want to leave earlier. My plans were to sneak away but don't go blabbing to anybody, okay?"

She laughed. "Sure." The princess looked around with a frown. "Have you seen Kili?" Thorin shook his head no. "We haven't seen him since last night."

"He's probably gone to water a toilet." Thorin deduced and Kara rolled her eyes.

"I was unaware that it takes all night to pee, uncle." She muttered.

"A midnight sulk, then." Thorin offered.

Kara rolled her eyes. "Whatever hatchet you are wielding against my brother can you not hold it in until we find him?"

"I saw him on the way back from the runes. He was with some elf, one of the ones that helped heal you, lass. They went into the healing room with all the supplies." Balin spoke up and she nodded gratefully and once again departed with her eldest protector.

* * *

Kara and Fili entered the room and blinked in surprise at Kili sitting on the table next to an elf, both laughing about something or another. They both looked up in surprise and the elleth smiled.

"Um, this is Arwen." Kili declared with an awkward throat clear.

After a pause Kara stepped forward. "I'm Kara."

Arwen smiled and shook her hand. "You were the one who got injured."

"Aye."

"You're looking much better."

"I feel much better."

"That is good to hear." She hopped off of the table.

"What are you doing here?" Fili hissed to his brother.

"Well I sat by the bedside all night and went to the loo this morning, got lost and Arwen found me."

Fili nodded, satisfied enough with the response. Two new presences swung open the door and they all spun around. "Ah. These are my brothers, Elrohir and Elladan." Arwen told them as the brothers smiled at the trio.

"Hey!"

"Hey." The three murmured in response.

"Did you want something, boys?" Arwen asked.

"Father told us to check up on the princess." Elrohir stated.

"How are you?" Elladan asked Kara.

"Better. Thanks, kind of bored though."

"We can do something fun."

"You know..." Kili began as everyone turned to look at him. "We haven't done a prank in a while..."

Kara grinned widely, a mischievous plan forming in her mind. "I have an idea."

* * *

**Okay, so it took me longer than normal to get this up but our WIFI had many issues so... :( Poor Kara! That scene with Fili and Kara was so cute to write cuz I mean...Fili is just so awesome! And ooohh...Kili got a bit mad. I also didn't write about when she saw the figure that was mentioned, but this was intentional as you just have to imagine!**

**Thorin is in for a prank so be prepared hehe.**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	8. Stone Giants

Arwen lead the trio through the halls of Rivendell, touring them of the best places. Kara was awestruck at the designs, the pillars, the intricate details in every little object...all of it was _amazing._ She had been raised to hate elves purely for what happened between them and her uncle, but these ones seemed harmless and not how the tales described them to be.

"This is amazing." She breathed.

"It's our world." Arwen answered with a small smile.

"We should go outside." Elrohir suggested, running over to the four with his brother behind him. "We looked; Thorin and those other two dwarves, the white bearded one and his brother, are out near the lake."

"What's the lake?" Fili asked.

"We'll show you." Elladen chimed in. "It's a good area because Thorin is sat near the lake against the wall to the hall so we can grab a bucket from the plank and fill it up there, and then go round the back and climb up."

"You've done this before." Kili said with a smirk, raising an eyebrow as the twins vigorously nodded in unison.

"We have." They simultaneously declared before sending a snigger to one another at their echoed response.

Kara clapped her hands in excitement. "Let's do this thing."

They followed Arwen out of a large archway that two of Gandalf probably wouldn't even reach the height of and around the outside of the kingdom which in all honesty was even more beautiful. She wasn't sure whether it was the waterfalls, the bridges or just being able to see everything from one viewpoint by the time they made it to the edge of a large drop that Arwen had led them up, but whatever it was she didn't want to go back to looking at grimy caves and rain all day.

"So how do we get down there?" Kara asked, narrowing her eyes skeptically as she peered over the edge at the beautiful lake. She could see from up top that it was a mix of turquoise and light blue. She was jealous that not in a million years would she be able to get a pool to look that good back home. There was a large plank of wood floating in the middle of the water too, presumably tied to something under the lake to stay there but it looked like it contained items. She supposed thats where Elladan meant for them to get the bucket from.

"Well there's a path that leads down the side and to the bottom." She explained before Elladan and Elrohir both sprinted forward and leapt off of the edge. Kara could see the splashes that the water produced when they landed in there. "Or you can go that way." Their sister laughed, turning back to the trio with her hands on her hips.

Fili and Kili sent a glance to one another, speaking in the brainwaves that they always seemed to before simultaneously running and doing exactly what the twins did not seconds earlier.

Arwen smiled at Kara. "We can take the path if you're afraid of heights."

"What are you waiting for?" Fili yelled up.

"It's amazing!" Kili shouted in addition, falling back into the water to soak his hair and Kara shook her head.

"I'm not afraid of heights." She decided, sending a grin to the elf before the two girls jumped off of the edge and whooped as they fell through the air. When Kara hit the water she was surprised at how warm it was immediately surrounded by bubbles. She kicked to the surface, flailing out her arms into a cheer as the others laughed and decided to splash one another.

They began to swim over to the plank of wood and messily clambered on, water dripping from her clothes. She removed her shoes, grimacing at how much they would be uncomfortable to wear unless she dried them and dumped them in the middle as the others did the same.

They continued the enjoyment, Kara pushing her youngest brother in who scowled and splashed at her as Elrohir fell sideways in after him from a push from Arwen. The two older brothers got their revenge and pulled the two girls in by the leg as Fili and Elladen chuckled and leapt in once again after them.

There was a moment where the six held hands, ran and jumped, whooping before they hit the water. Kara adored the feeling of being surrounded by bubbles as her hair floated beside her, for once not in the neat braids that her uncle liked to see her in.

They began to dive in too, making sure all six ended up in the water before they got back on the plank, a rule that they made because it involved pushing in and splashing and most of all, fun. They floated in a circle, savouring the luxurious feeling of the blue on their skin.

Elladen began to soak his hair out, Arwen falling into him as both laughed. Kara bent over when she felt Fili's arms throw themselves around her neck in enjoyment and she grinned. In the next moment all six hung their legs over the edge of the plank, feet dipping into the water as they continued to throw splashes at one another to the side. Kara, taking the moment to relieve her mind from all calamities, leant over and rested her head on Kili's shoulder whose hands were against the wood so he was leant back slightly and could throw his head back to flick away the water. It was one of those treasurable minutes where she wished that she could freeze time.

* * *

Kara held up the tooth in her hands in the direction of the sunlight, squinting her eyes to study it properly before smiling and handing it back to Elrohir who tucked it in his soaking wet pocket.

"That is so cool." She commented, not moving from the comfortable position lying down on the plank. The sun rays were in her direction at this moment and she was savouring the warmth.

"Look at all this stuff." Kili observed, emptying some of the buckets as he searched around and pulled out a mask. "Woah. That's a lot of scuba gear."

"That's all of the equipment that we use when we dive down into the caves." Arwen told him as she sat up from her position lying next to Kara, propping herself onto her elbows.

"There are caves here?" Fili questioned.

"Many." Arwen pointed to the water. "Under this lake, anyway. When you guys are done on the quest you should come back here and we can check it out."

"So you've been?"

"I only went as far as the first cave. It's dangerous and pretty insane down there."

"But it's really cool." Elladan declared with a smirk.

"Before I came here I didn't think elves had a life." Kara stated with a smile.

"Before dwarves came here I thought all they cared about was mining in caves." Arwen said after. "I guess we have both been proven wrong."

Elrohir tipped a bucket upside down, a bunch of tangled masks falling into a pile so there was a free bucket. "We should do it before they leave."

The other five murmured their agreements and slid back into the water, swimming to the edge where Elrohir handed the bucket to Kili who scooped up enough water that it was full to nearly the brim, knowing as they walked they would spill a lot.

"Did you say we're going to climb up round the back?" Kara asked for conformation.

"Yes. You and Arwen will watch around the wall and tell Fili and Kili when to tip it."

"Oh, and what will you be doing?" Arwen hissed to her brother.

"We'll be making sure Fili and Kili don't fall." He muttered with a shrug as Arwen rolled her eyes at his antics and lead the way around the back. Kara could see Thorin sat against the wall, looking more stressed than ever as Balin and Dwalin stood in front with their arms crossed. Kara hoped, if part of it was because he was guilty about what happened to her, this would let him know that she was back to normal.

"Up there." Arwen pointed once they made it around the back of the shed to the ladder that lead to the flat roof. Kili began to climb, Fili following with his hand at the bottom of the bucket to balance it until they finally made it to the top.

Kara's fingers wrapped around the edge of the wall and she tried to listen to the conversation occuring. She made out a couple of words:

"Kara...idiot...Dis will kill..."

She rolled her eyes at him and casually strolled around the wall. He immediately stopped talking when he noticed her approaching. "Hey uncle. Would you like to come and swim in the lake? It's really warm!"

Thorin smiled at her but shook his head. "No thank you, Kara. I really don't want to get we..." He could hear the water falling above him before actually feeling it smack onto his head, dripping down his hair to make him look like a drowned cat.

Arwen rounded the corner open mouthed as Kara clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound of laughing, peering up at her brothers.

Thorin glared angrily above him. "Kili! Get down here _now!_ " he screamed as the archer closed his eyes tightly and placed a hand on the side of his face as he grinned. "Fili! If you are up there too come forth!"

"You're getting the blame." Fili declared as they rounded the corner side by side.

"Don't I always?" Kili asked with a sigh. "You'd better not say it was me."

Fili nodded and the duo moved to stand by their sister against the wall, as far back from Thorin as possible who turned his eyes that lacked impress off of his niece and onto his nephews.

Fili quickly spoke, not enjoying the pressure. "It was Kili."

"Fili!" Kili hissed, elbowing his brother hard in the stomach.

Thorin turned his eyes onto each of them, noticing that behind the faces that were trying not to burst out laughing was pure exhaustion and the desperation for a little bit of fun. And so he turned to Balin and Dwalin who flickered their eyes to the top in question as Thorin dipped his head slightly, trying not to seem too obvious. For today, for this moment, he would let them and himself feel some enjoyment.

Fili, Kili and Kara gulped, presuming that Thorin was going to give them a 'we are in the middle of an elven kingdom which you know for a fact that I hate, after one of you has just been mortally injured, can you not get tied up in Kili's reckless schemes?' talk, some of which happened on the daily but instead they felt a smack of water land on their own heads, soaking them even more than they were.

Kara opened her mouth and looked up at Balin and Dwalin who offered a wave from over the edge. "I'm too old for this." Balin grumbled.

"Where did you get that water from?!" She yelled as she squeezed some water from her heavy locks.

Dwalin head gestured to Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen who peeped around the wall in unison, one head on top of the other as Kara blinked in hurt.

"Betrayers!" She shouted before chasing after them when they sprinted away in the direction of the lake. "You're so dead!"

Thorin, Fili and Kili followed quickly and jumped back in the lake where they began to try and overpower one another. Thorin had never thought that he would willingly _splash_ an elf but at the feeling of his muscles relaxing he honestly didn't mind. Kara embraced the feeling of freedom that she knew her uncle felt and was happy that their prank had gone in that direction instead of how they usually ended up, which was never this enjoyable.

* * *

The next day Thorin Oakenshield demanded that they sneak away early, although he was shattered from his lack of sleep but he didn't tell anybody of this fact. He wanted to get out of Rivendell and that was that... _what more was there to say?_

Kara was quite sad when she exited through the doors though, and tightened an arm around her stomach. "I'm gonna miss this place." She admitted out loud which wasn't supposed to happen and the company around her all glanced at her simultaneously.

"Why?" Dwalin scoffed. "Have you tasted the food?"

"It's green!" Ori exclaimed in disgust. "They didn't even have any chips!"

"Not the food." Kara argued. "The elves."

Gloin scoffed. " _Elves?_ You're going to miss the _elves?"_

"They're not as bad as you think."

"No. They're worse." Bofur grumbled. Kara laughed and nudged him playfully as the toymaker took his hat off and bowed, making her roll her eyes and purposely run away from him though he knew it was his friend being playful.

"Do you think I'm protective?" Fili asked his brother as the two walked side by side at the back of the company.

"Let me answer your question with a question. Do you count how many hours of sleep Kara has every night?"

Fili frowned. "That's not being protective, that's just good health sense."

Kili threw his hands in the air. "And my role in this conversation ends now."

They made it to the pile of newly sharpened, almost immaculate weapons that Thorin has laid out where he told them to meet him and watched their sister delve into the pile and pull out her dagger that she was shocked to find had a broken hilt. "Oh no!" She exclaimed. "My knife!"

Kili laughed. "See this is why we love you Kara. All the girls back home are like 'oh no, my makeup!'"

Fili nudged his brother who abruptly shut up as Kara rolled her eyes and shoved it into her little sheath attached to her belt. "Looks like I don't have a dagger."

"Kara you have like twenty." Fili told her.

"Twenty knives, not daggers."

"Here lass, have mine." Bofur threw her a dagger and she tilted her head.

"No. It's yours."

"I broke yours by accident. I used it to kill an orc because you dropped it after you were un...uh, in your condition, so I picked it up and I'm not sure I should explain how it broke because I really don't want to be taking that trip down memory lane."

Kara tilted her head, narrowing her eyes skeptically as Bofur awkwardly looked to the side. She chuckled and slid it into her belt. "You have another one right?"

"Aye."

"Ok. Thanks Bofur."

Once her uncle arrived, dressed in his usual furs as Orcist shined brightly from inside his sheath he declared it time to leave and she followed not as eagerly as everyone else. With one final look behind her shoulder to the beautiful city of Rivendell, guilt gnawing at her heat for just packing up and leaving with no announcement, she turned around and didn't dare give any more peers over her shoulder and followed the company to where, she did not know.

* * *

A violent storm came to pass as the company continued their drooling journey across many different horizons, the one at that current moment happening to be the edge of a cliff that her uncle insisted they should brave, but now he was beginning to regret it.

Kara looked to the side when she heard a crack and cringed as the force of the hammering sent a large chunk of the stone that they were carefully hurrying across plummeting down the drop. What worried her was that if someone fell nobody would even question whether they were a goner, for it was fairly obvious - the bottom was unseeable for mahals sake!

The vigorous storm knocked Bilbo off of his balance and Kara's thought trail about the earlier matter was barely ended in time for her to lunge forward and grab hold of his sleeve before yanking him back. He shot her a grateful smile which she didn't return for she was waiting impatiently to hear of her uncle's next move.

"We must find shelter!" He called back to his companions.

 _If there was a stating the obvious sport uncle you would win a gold medal_ Kara thought with a scoff as she wiped some damp hair away from her blurry eyes. Maybe pouring water over their heads hadn't been such a good idea, for surely this was what it felt like.

"Look out!" Dwalin suddenly yelled, sending her into high alert and she watched in horror as a large stone bolder flew from out of nowhere in their direction and it hit the mountain above them, shattering bits of stone over everyone's heads.

"This is no thunderstorm!" Balin informed them frantically. "It's a thunder battle! Look!"

She did said order and watched a giant stone figure break another of his kind furiously and she grimaced, cowering against the back of the mountain for everyone had paused now. There wasn't exactly anywhere to walk to though.

"Well bless me..." Bofur began as he ambled forward and watched the giant calamities in awe. "The legends are true. Giants! Stone giants!"

"Take cover you fool!" Thorin yelled as he looked worriedly around for his nephews and niece whilst the stone giants began hurling gigantic rocks towards one another.

Kara looked down, noticing the crack that was forming in between her and Kili and she panicked. "What's happening?" The brunette asked, glancing around in confusion at the crumbling ground beneath them.

"Kili!" Kara exclaimed in a panic as she reached forward desperately, Fili's hand wrapping around her wrist from behind her to stop her from falling forward. "Grab my hand!"

Her brother attempted to do so but it was vain and he stumbled back before he fell trying to reach for his little sister. She stared in horror as her brother was dragged further and further away from her with the moving ground, the exact same expression mirrored on his face.

Fili grabbed her and shoved her behind him so she was uncomfortably sandwiched between the mountain and him which she wasn't particularly enjoying for she wanted to see what was happening to Kili and the others but also logically realised that if she shoved him away he would fall so she kept herself in the helpless position and restrained doing so, although it was rather tempting.

The mountain that they were stood on suddenly came to life and arose from his position lying back before attacking the other one that stood high in front of him. The screams emitting from the company bombarded her ears but no sound arose from her own throat, for she was too shocked to even move. Not that she could for Fili was so stubborn the lock he had her in seemed to be made of steel.

The knee she appeared to be stood on crashed into the mountain side and the company openly seized that opportunity and hastily made their way off and onto the other thin mountain ledge where they continued to run, hoping with everything that they were in fact not stood atop a moving limb but that idea was dropped when they carried on moving higher and lower with the rhythm of the giants. Fili's iron grip had transformed onto Kara's wrist as he yanked her along, and she was starting to feel a little like a ragdoll.

The stone creatures began to destroy each other as one swung a fist and knocked a head off before his own head got knocked off because of a bolder hurled in his direction by the third one. All Kara knew was that the others were alive as they swung in front of them before her group was suddenly face to face with the side of the mountain, moving at an alarming speed towards it and she began to panic that they would get crushed. She could visibly see a ledge that everybody began to leap onto and she followed suit after a panicked shout from Fili. She collapsed to the ground in relief as the company landed in a messy pile.

Thorin's distant screams for her and Fili rung in her ears and she sighed in relief when he rounded the corner, a gesture he reflected when he saw them alive and he briefly closed his eyes to allow the solace to wash over him.

"Are you ok?" Kili asked as he helped Kara to her feet.

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm good. You're shivering."

"Of course I am!" She exclaimed. "It's freezing!"

"We'll get you wrapped up." Fili spoke up from behind her.

"Will you two worry about yourselves for once? I'm ok!" She stressed. "You're both so protective!"

"Both?" Fili asked with a slight smirk.

Kili raised an eyebrow. "At least I don't count how many times she chews each mouthful." Kara raised her eyebrows. "Or how many times she pisses a day."

"Say what?"

"Nothing." Fili hissed bitterly. "Come and join us inside and get warm. Your stomach can't be completely healed so it's fair enough if we worry about you." The elven magic had healed her stomach completely and she felt absolutely fine but didn't have the energy to argue, her body still slightly in shock from the events of less than a minute ago.

Kara looked at her raven-haired brother questioningly who was smiling, trying to hide his brewing laughter as they strolled side by side into the cave.

"Where's Bilbo?" The voice from behind her caught her attention and she spun back around on her toes, followed closely by the dwarves in front of her. "Where's the hobbit?"

They whipped their heads back and forth looking for him until they noticed the pair of hands clinging on for dear life and the hobbit dangling off of the edge of the cliff with a calm yet shocked expression plastered on his innocent face. Panicked shouts and reaches for him began until Thorin hopped off of the edge and helped haul him up. Kara reached down and with the combined efforts of her and Dwalin yanked her uncle up and he angily brushed himself off.

"I thought we'd lost our burglar." Dwalin declared, a rare show of relief shining in his eyes.

"He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come. He has no place amongst us." Thorin grumbled with a bitter glare towards Bilbo who looked visibly struck by this comment.

Kara frowned at the look of hurt on Bilbo's face and the way his arms unconfidently dropped and she shifted. "That's harsh, uncle. Take that back! He got us out of the troll incident; something you couldn't do!"

"And who got us into that mess?" Thorin snapped as he shifted to face her. "Whose side are you on? You know, I have gone out of my way to drag your lazy butt into this company, so don't make me sorry I did so. I can reverse it; send yo..."

"Thorin!" Kili hissed, stopping him in his rant and he turned to his nephew. "Stop it! Just...leave her alone." Thorin stared at Kili in shock before turning to Kara and noticing her expression of utter hurt. Regret and guilt mixed together and immediately made themselves welcome in different areas throughout his body.

"I'm sorry, niece." He murmured as she swallowed and looked up from the floor though she didn't meet his gaze when he tried to find it. "I didn't mean that. I'm just stressed. I don't know what's going to happen." Nobody made to move and he shook his head in annoyance. The exiled king put an arm around Kara, leading her into the cave. "Can we just go? Please?"

Fili and Kili glanced at each other in sympathy before following as the rest of the company trailed behind, nobody sure what to say.

The situation seemed unfixable in that one moment.

* * *

**Okay! Thorin, you meanie! I nearly made this chapter the length of until half way through goblin town but then I split the** **_really_ ** **long chapter in half and I'll post the next one way sooner than this one. Like in a few days. College started up again so I'm more busy now which is kinda sad!**

**Did you like the prank? At least Thorin took it well hehe.**

**What do you think? Goodbye for now devils... ;)**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	9. Down Down Down In Goblin Town

"Sweetie, are you ok?"

Kara sighed and unfolded her arms. "No..." She murmured. "He...I don't know, he's just so unfair."

"He's Thorin Oakenshield, Kara. He was made to be unfair." Fili reassured with a slight chuckle as he slumped against the stone wall and let out a huge sigh. They both looked up at the sound of footsteps and saw Thorin approaching them cautiously. Fili blinked, a plan forming in his brain and he turned to his brother. "We'll back her up, ok?" Kili nodded and Fili cleared his throat. "Yes brother, I agree, Bilbo is a very good addition to this company."

Thorin stood in front of them and crossed his arms as Fili silently urged Kili to continue. "Uh..." The archer stammered. "Yeah! I like his..." Kili snapped his fingers for something to say. "Eyebrows...?"

Kara frowned. "Eyebrows?" She mouthed to Fili who shrugged before looking up at their uncle and faking a smile.

"I was going to say that you three need to sleep. I want to get out of this cave at first light; there is something about it that I don't like."

Kara couldn't help but silently agree. There was something dangerous about this cave - she wasn't sure what, but the feeling that a major calamity was lingering somewhere, the foul stench, the way whenever she uttered a word the stone walls seemed to carry the sound...all of it. She wanted to get out of here.

"M'kay." She mumbled. Thorin looked like he wanted to say more but clamped his lips shut, nodded in acceptance and strolled away to tell Bofur that he was on first watch.

Her brothers went to gather them some water and in this duration of time the hobbit walked over unsurely and when she didn't say anything he sheepishly sat next to her. "Greetings, master Baggins."

"Hello, Miss Kara." He returned. "I wanted to thank you for saying that out there."

She smiled and shook her head. "It's not a big deal. He says stuff like that all the time - it's hard to win over his trust but he'll come around...eventually."

Bilbo sighed. "No he won't."

"Trust me. He will." Kara giggled slightly as a memory surfaced at that moment. "When we were little our uncle didn't trust us with anything, and I mean this, but one day he was left to babysit us and he wasn't sure how to cook, so me and my brothers attempted to make a dish and it looked completely unappetizing but it tasted amazing. He didn't want us to use any kitchen appliances but, of course, we did and he began to trust us from then on. I suppose it's because he didn't have to tell my mother that he fed us cereal."

The hobbit smiled slightly. "Does he know how to cook now?"

"I mean, he usually burns it. But in a way." She smiled. "Don't tell him I told you." Bilbo nodded and looked to the ceiling with a little laugh. "So, master burglar. How _do_ hobbits get educated?"

"Books." He answered simply. "Many, many books. I just read everything that my mother thought I needed to read. What about you?"

"We got home tutored by Balin, but sometimes the younger dwarves from the Blue Mountains sat in a hall and we got taught by other tutors with them. One of them was so evil, and he used to blame _everything_ on Kili. Every little thing. It was pretty hilarious." Both laughed at that, and had one of those really long conversations about life until Fili and Kili rejoined them with full bottles of water in their hands.

"Master Boggins!" Kili greeted as he sat down and handed a bottle of water to his sister who drank gratefully. Her throat was raw and she was gagging for even a sip of liquid.

"It's Baggins." Bilbo corrected.

Kili frowned. "No it's not."

Bilbo slapped his hands to his knees in irritation. "Shouldn't I know?"

"Yeah, you should!" Kili exclaimed as Fili shook his head with a slight chuckle.

"Kara, sleep sister." He said after a quiet few seconds.

She wanted to protest but felt her eyelids drooping so she gratefully sank on to her already laid out bedroll and did just that.

* * *

"...You're used to...to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere!" The words blurred into one and she found herself sitting bolt upright at the fact that she could be asleep whilst everyone else was awake but found that not to be the case. Bofur and Bilbo were so fixed in conversation they didn't even notice her awareness of their talking.

Bilbo noticed the look of hurt on Bofur's face and immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry. I didn't..."

"No you're right." Bofur interrupted him. "We don't belong anywhere." He met Kara's eyes briefly who tilted her head questioningly, but Bofur turned back to the hobbit. "I wish you all the luck in the world." he clasped Bilbo on the shoulder. "I really do."

"Wait, wait, what?" Kara hissed as she stood up, careful not to jostle and awaken her sleeping brothers. Bilbo jumped at her sudden appearance and Bofur just looked sad. "You're leaving?"

"It's better this way." Bilbo whispered.

"Did you not listen to anything I said to you earlier? You're going to let one lone dwarf king get to you?"

"He won't ever accept me, Kara. I just have to realise that."

"Yes, he will!" She urged as Bofur put a comforting hand on her shoulder in a vain attempt to stop her argumentative tone, and she was about to continue when her keen eyesight caught Bilbo's sword in its sheath which was glowing blue. "What is that?" She asked, cautiously knitting her brows together but before she knew what was happening Thorin was on his feet as the floor began to crack, barking authoritatively at everyone to wake up which they immediately did. Before they knew what was happening...before they could even _react,_ the ground opened up beneath them and swallowed them whole.

She let out a yelp of surprise when she collided with a wall and was then ricocheted back into the tunnel that she had apparently been falling through. It wall all a bit of a daze, and before she knew it she was a top Gloin's stomach who grunted at the contact. She scrambled off of him in a panic and whipped her head back and forth for whatever was emitting the unified roars along with a series of screeches which sent chills down her spine, and when she saw them she inhaled a gasp of horror. "Goblins!" She yelled.

"Move!" Fili exclaimed as he hauled her up and they began to sprint. It wasn't enough. Hordes of said creatures swarmed towards them and before she could even reach for a knife her arms were in the worlds firmest locks and if she wriggled and escaped another goblin would be there in an instant, before she could so much as blink. She couldn't win. There wasn't an escape.

The thought made her feel slightly claustrophobic as she continued to be manhandled down the maze of stone halls, along platforms, up stairs...she was lost. With an angry cry she smashed her elbow into the face of one of the ones holding her and felt the creature's nose break with a sickening crunch. It released her yet instantly another three leant their comrade aid, smashing their fists into Kara's chest which knocked the air from her lungs.

As she gasped for breath she snarled, though it came out more as the wheezing sound of a dying cat whilst she fought her attackers in vain.

She reached an arm towards Fili who was screaming her name as he searched around for her, and she sighed in relief when she saw the company being herded just in front of her. Her arm was smacked down though, and a whip cracked on her back, dragging a startled scream from her lips which unintentionally angered her family even more, giving them the extra adrenaline to fight even harder but it was all for nothing.

A booming voice met her ears and she tried to peer up whilst keeping her head straight forward, for movement seemed to get her a whip and she wasn't particularly longing for anymore.

"I feel a song coming on!" _A song?!_

_Like...now?_

_And what the heck was the source of the sound?_

_Clap, snap, the black crack_   
_Grip, grab, pinch, and nab_   
_Batter and beat_   
_Make 'em stammer and squeak!_   
_Pound pound, far underground_   
_Down, down, down in Goblin Town_

_With a swish and smack_   
_And a whip and a crack_   
_Everybody talks when they're on my rack_   
_Pound pound, far underground_   
_Down, down, down in Goblin Town_

_Hammer and tongs, get out your knockers and gongs_   
_You won't last long on the end of my prongs_   
_Clash, crash, crush and smish_   
_Bang, break, shiver and shake_

_You can yammer and yelp_   
_But there ain't no help_   
_Pound pound, far underground_   
_Down, down, down in Goblin Town_

As she observed her surroundings in the duration of the song she was honestly quite confused. There was a bunch of goblins banging on drums, for mahals sake! "Uncle!" She called, earning a smack to the back but he turned around and she cocked her head questioningly. _What's the plan?_

His response was a shrug and a slight head shake, trying to muster all of his comfort through his eyes to his niece whom he had yet to properly apologize to but his neck was smacked and he turned back around, smashing into his company who had all come to an abrupt halt in front of a chair.

Kara's mouth dropped open at the size, disgustiness and scariness at the gigantic creature who towered proudly over his crowd whilst spinning around on the final note of his ridiculous song.

He smiled victoriously before turning around, stepping on a couple of goblins who let out pain filled squeals as he climbed onto his unbelievably large throne. "Catchy, isn't it?" He asked with a sneer.

"No." Kara muttered under her breath.

"It's one of my own compositions."

"That's not a song." Balin spoke up. "Its an abomination!"

The goblins screeched around him as some of the dwarves cheered in agreement. Fili gripped her wrist like a lock and she tried to shake it away, the blood not fulfilling its full needed circulation but he didn't seem to notice.

"Abomination, mutations, deviations, that's all your gonna find down here." He informed them before the goblins yanked out their bigger weapons and threw them onto the floor in a pile, sounding a clank. She jumped up and down in irritation, staring longingly at her sword as the hilt got covered by Dwalin's axe. "Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" He asked as he leaned forward and observed the crowd before his feet. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

"Dwarves, your malevolence." The goblin who was seemingly his little henchman snivelled.

"Dwarves?" The goblin king questioned, as though it was a rare occurrence indeed that a party of fourteen dwarves would wound up in his caves.

"Found em on the front porch."

"Well don't just stand there. Search them! Every crack, every crevice!" He ordered and the goblins immediately did said order, crushing Oin's hearing trumpet and digging their hands into Kara's boots, pulling out many of her knives (though they missed the one hidden in her shoulder braces), before stepping away with huffs of satisfaction.

"It is my belief, your great marvelonce, that they are in league with elves!" The same little helper goblin that was really beginning to get under her skin informed the king. She silently vowed she was going to kill him if it was the last thing she did.

"Made in Rivendell." The king murmured as he observed one of their objects. "Second age. Couldn't give it away."

"Just a couple of keepsakes." Nori mumbled after a quiet few seconds.

"What are you doing in these parts?" The king demanded, either ignoring the last comment or it went unheard to him. "Speak!" Kara cringed at the flabiness of his chin whenever he moved his jaw. She was traumatized by the appearance and knew that if she survived this she would be having the odd nightmare about this experience.

"Don't worry lads." Oin glanced at Kara. "And lass. I'll handle this." He pushed his way to the front as Kara furrowed her brow at him, wondering about his plan.

"No tricks. I want the truth!" The great goblin demanded as he slammed his stick on the floor threateningly. "Once and all."

"You're going to have to speak up." Their healer declared. "Your boys flattened me trumpet."

"They flattened it _real_ good." Kara observed with wide eyes as she studied the crushed piece of equipment on the floor.

"I'll flatten more than your trumpet!" He bellowed as he moved forward, carelessly shoving objects that dare stand in his way to the side but Bofur hustled his way to the front before they were crushed and quickly began to speak.

"If it's information you want then I'm the one you should speak to!"

The goblin leaned back with an inhale of slight annoyance yet curiousness at the same time. "Mhm."

"We were on the road. Well it's not so much a road as a path. Actually it's not even that come to think of it, it's more of a track." he rambled. "Anyway. The point is we were on this road like a path like a track, and then we weren't! Which is a problem because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday..."

"Visiting distant relations!" Dori piped up.

"Some of them are on me mothers side..."

"Shut up!" The goblin bellowed, lengthening out each syllable, silencing them all.

Except Kara couldn't help herself. "You asked what we were doing."

Fili elbowed her so hard that the air was knocked out of her lungs for over ten seconds. She forced herself not to pant.

"You would dare talk to me that way?" he questioned.

Kara bit her lip. "I'm just declaring a fact."

The goblin leaned backwards, falling into his chair through a fit of chuckles. "I know someone who will want to see you."

"Kara..." Kili warned.

"And you!" The goblin exclaimed, pointing at Kili, finding a spark of interest in the appearance of the archer. "Bring em to the front."

"No!" Fili yelled, fighting all the more, unable to watch the scene that he was sure was about to play out in front of his eyes. Neither of his siblings deserved to befall this fate. Mahal, why did he let them come!

The goblin king locked eyes with Fili. "Shut goldilocks over there up." He ordered, goblins complying and clamping their grimy hands over Fili's mouth. "He won't want to watch this."

"No!" Fili screamed again though it came out muffled, fighting even harder than previously as he watched his brother and sister being hauled up to the front. He looked desperately in the direction of Thorin who was staring fixedly at the floor and Fili shook his head in disbelief as he stopped making a sound. He just glared daggers at the exiled king.

The goblin leaned over and stared down at the girl who gazed back up defiantly, stubbornness shining brightly in her beautiful orbs. "Now, little one. Care to share why you are here?"

"We were just passing." It was a poor lie, but perhaps the creature was dumber than he looked.

"Passing, you say? And to where, may I ask?"

"My aunt. She lives on the other side of this mountain. These are my companions. What more is there to say?"

"How about the truth?" The goblin questioned, before scoffing at Kara's glare. "Take them to the dungeons." He ordered with a brief wave of his hand.

"No!" Fili exclaimed as he was dragged away, thrashing with his legs to get them to release him but every time he succeeded more would take their companion's place. When he was out of view he felt tears brimming in his eyes and he slumped in defeat, many different plans swirling through his mind as the company around him also stopped.

Thorin stared helplessly as he was dragged further and further away from his loved ones. _Mahal Kili, protect her,_ he prayed with his fingers crossed. He was mad at himself for not speaking up, but he just couldn't afford to give the quest away. There wasn't a right answer for this...and he had barely even apologised, for mahal's sake! Dread clawed its way around his heart at what they may find out in his absence and he opened his mouth to make his presence known, to _demand_ that they take him back, but his voice wouldn't allow him to do so. Even when the words were hanging off of the tip of his tongue.

"Now." The goblin stared at his two toys, placing a thoughtful finger under his chin. "How shall we do this?" He glanced at his hanging cage and grinned evilly. "Who wants to be tortured?"

"Leave her alone!"

"Leave him alone!"

The words exited their lips at the same time and they furrowed their brows at one another.

"Hmm. I love the sound of girl screams." He debated. "But she'll scream if this one gets the torture. Then she might spill the beans." He poked Kili in the chest with his stick who grimaced slightly, but uttered no sound.

"Don't touch him." She hissed at the king who chuckled.

"I do what I want. Put the girl in the cage."

"Leave her!" Kili yelled suddenly, finding his voice. "She didn't do anything! Take it all out on me!"

"No!" Kara argued loudly and she could hear the word echo through the caverns whilst she thrashed, kicked, threw punches and twisted in their grips but as much as she hated to admit it, she was severely outnumbered.

Kili was relieved that it would be him getting the blows, but he didn't like the distressed look on Kara's face as she was thrown inside the cage, the door getting slammed in front of her and she held onto the bars, staring at him in terror as her eyes shone with grief, even though nothing had yet took place.

"How come there are so many weapons?" The king asked as he observed the floor.

"Because there's fourteen of us, stupid." Kili laughed before abruptly stopping at the monster's minacious and murderous glare.

"The whips."

* * *

**Oh nooo! They're in for it! I wrote this when I was half asleep so sorry if it isn't the best, but I tried! See ya soon!**


	10. Gore and Pain

**Waring: Torture!**

**I loved writing this chapter for some reason, so enjoy!**

* * *

Kili's wrists were forced into giant manacles and then tied above his head, his arms pressing into the sides of his face but he let himself feel relief about the fact that his feet could only just touch the ground. He felt his heart break for his little sister who was kicking and punching the bars, willing desperately for them to open for she knew for a fact that she didn't want to watch whatever was about to unfold in front of her eyes, especially with the knowledge that she could do nothing other than watch.

Kili knew that if she actually escaped she wouldn't have a plan but he knew her well - she _had_ to try. He made eye contact with her and smiled encouragingly, trying to look reassuring. She didn't return the gesture, only stared back with wide eyes that reflected nothing but manifest fear. With a short word of acceptance from the large masochist the first whip lash was brought down to meet his now exposed back, though he hadn't expected it to be so numbing - he couldn't actually feel any pain yet, only the unnerving feeling of having no spine, or skin, or _back._ He wriggled around, attempting to arch his backbone and spoon some life back into his muscles but it didn't exactly work.

After about five of these, all one after the other, try as he might he couldn't hold back a small whimper that tore Kara's heart in two. After ten he let himself groan loudly. His plan had been to make his uncle, brother and especially sister proud but being the victim in the situation made it so much harder than he thought.

Kara clamped her hands over her ears and yelled out in fury and fear. "Stop! You'll kill him!"

The goblin king chuckled. "What do you think I'm trying to do?" He asked with a sly grin. "Ten more."

Kili knew it was coming but this time it ripped into his skin, pain immediately searing up his back and somehow it felt like it was contaminated into the rest of his body. More and more came, cracks loudly sounding and bouncing through the stone walls as an echo to sound like a firework, along with his mild screams which he tried his hardest to contain, but to no avail.

Kara was banging the cage, anger coursing speedily through her veins and giving her more strength than she thought she could muster but she put it all to waste on trying to get out of the blasted enclosure, although somewhere in the back of her mind a tiny voice screamed at her to stop because she was wasting energy that could come in handy at a later moment, but she was one stubborn princess and refused to listen. The goblin king noticed this and watched her with interest.

"You know, my intentions are to torture this one." He pointed to Kili who heavily breathed as he lolled forward, though it came out as more of a wheeze. "But I think the girl should learn to keep quiet whilst I am being entertained." She looked above where the king's gaze was drawn and she could see that there were bars on the roof of her cage too and so the goblins that stood on a dodgy wooden platform above the contraption were able to visibly grin down at her before tipping a bucket of water over the edge which slid through the gaps and landed on her skin, but for some reason she just hadn't expected it to be boiling. She opened her mouth in shock, burns immediately blistering onto her skin, turning her face into the prettiest mix of red and black that you will ever see. Kili growled, and a kick to the stomach just made him angrier, but he couldn't fight the bounds.

"Release him. Get my newest toy from out the back." The goblin king ordered, his minions immediately complying, much to Kili and Kara's dread. About eight goblins rolled out a deadly looking machine with a sharp blade attached to the top of it. It looked extremely complex. The moment Kili was released from the cuffs he clutched his wrists to his chest, massaging them, but he only got the satisfaction for a small moment before he was being yanked over to the fatal apparatus.

"Stop!" Kara yelled.

"Will you tell me where you're going?" Was the smirk of a reply. Kara clamped her mouth shut - she _couldn't_ betray her uncle. But then again...

"Hurry up!" Came the impatient boom of a wicked monster, snapping her out of her contemplation thought trail.

Kili got thrown onto his back onto a wooden plank on the machine which jostled his whip lashes immensely, much to his annoyance and affliction, but the goblins pulled their grubby hands off of him once he was tied up which he wasn't exactly complaining about.. The goblin king leant forward eagerly, putting a filthy finger under his flabby chin as he watched the comical scene play out before his eyes, fueling his immoral heart with a surge of horrible happiness.

"Begin." He ordered. One of the goblins complied, leaning all of his body weight on a lever. The blade fell with a smack and by the end of the short event Kili was sure at least three of his ribs were broken. The scream he let out was horrifying and Kara purposely snapped her head in the other direction, tears streaming down her face as she covered her ears tightly with trembling hands. The goblin laughed at the distress that he was intentionally causing her, and gestured to some of the goblins standing on the platform above her cage. The goblins tipped another giant bucket again and Kara felt a new wave of heat rush over he body, newly formed burns implanting themselves on her skin. She glared darkly at the goblin king, for a split second feeling guilty for tipping water on her uncle's head the other day (even though it wasn't boiling), as she tried not to let her legs buckle beneath her from the agony that this mild torture was causing her.

As she thought about it a burn to the skin shouldn't be that painful but it just _was._ She felt a huge sense of determination that drove her not to show any weakness, and she really hoped it was working.

"Leave her alone." Kili hissed. The great goblin laughed as Kara rolled her eyes - _he_ was worrying about _her_?!

"If you tell me where you are headed maybe I will." He told Kili, who tipped his head back and decided to obstinate. He also wanted to shut his eyes to the world, but he would leave his sister with these vile creatures over his dead body. The archer was yanked carelessly off of the contraption, orbs drooping no matter how much he tried to keep his stubborn eyelids open.

"Kili!" Kara yelled in distress, running over to try and reach the lock on the cage before she started to pick at it. She decided this new tactic was logically better and more likely to work over thrashing and kicking at the unmoving bars whilst hurting herself in the process.

"It most certainly won't budge." The king teased, and she glared all of her anger straight at him through her eyes.

Kili looked up wearily. Kara tried to catch his eye but he was back to mopey looking down so she carried on picking desperately at the lock. The dwarf suddenly felt a fresh wave of burns wash over her skin, the searing pain making her scrunch her face up into a grimace. She fell backwards in shock, smacking into the bars behind her as she released heavy, scathed breaths that came out more as wheezes that a cat makes when dying. Kili hung forward, bangs plastered to his face from sweat as the goblin king put his hands on his hips in slight satisfaction, though any could tell he was thirsty for more.

"Care to share?" He looked at Kili who shook his head in a daze. He then looked to Kara who repeated the action with more force and the defiant glare that was now chiseled into her features continued to fire his direction. "Fine." He huffed. "Burn the girl again."

"No!" Kili yelled, voice cracking. "For mahal's sake, you've done enough to her!"

"Kili!" She hissed. "Let me take it!"

"Oh dwarves." The king hummed. "I would worry about yourselves if I were you. Now, what to do what to do..." He grinned to himself when a spark of an idea struck his brain. He shifted his body sideways slightly and yelled a command in black speech. Not moments later someone walked around the throne in answer to his command. The moment Kara layed eyes on her, a sparek of familiarality struck and her eyes winened. The girl began to shake her head, edging backwards until her back pressed against the back of the cage.

Naomi was stepping into the clearing. Her outfit was a black and white stripy top with black bottoms, the exact same outfit that Kara remembered her wearing as a babe like it was yesterday. Her hair was the same colour and ran down her shoulders in perfect waves. Kara couldn't exactly deny it; she was pretty. However, her eyes were still the same bright red orbs that Kara remembered and supposed that she was the only child to have never got a cure.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, weakly crawling on all fours to the cage door where she put two hands on the bars for grip, her fingers twirling around the bars as she squinted to get a closer look once the shock from the memories had subsided.

"What's it to you?"

Kara opened her mouth in offense but before she could bite back a comeback she heard a familiar sound being tipped above her. Unconsciously she closed her eyes and accepted the next wave of water that got dumped on top of her head once again. _For mahal's sake, this is getting boring now._ The floor to the cage was soaked and she knew that if she ran she would definitely slip over.

"Find a new tactic!" The goblin king yelled. "I'm bored. Girl, get my information. Please. These dimbo's are useless!" He commented about his kin who didn't dare disagree, for one look at his huge feet would make them fear their fate.

"You're not going to get your information." Kara muttered.

"Oh, aren't I?" She asked with a smirk.

"No. Dwarves are not as gullible as you think we are."

"Is that so?"

"Aye."

She smiled, something that would come off as friendly if it weren't for the evil spark flying through her eyes. She strolled casually over to Kili who sagged forward, too worn to really speak but the anger coursing through his veins at how many times they had dumped unnecessary boiling water on his sister's skin was extremely high. The woman pulled out a deadly looking dagger and slit the ropes, dropping his body to the ground which only emitted a slight grunt of pain. She snapped her fingers impatiently and ordered the goblins to wheel the torture device away quickly for she 'didn't have all day'.

"What are you doing?" Kara demanded, rocking the cage with her fury. The girl had always had a hot temper, this her family had learnt to deal with. It was sort of a trait though, one that her uncle definitely had and Kili showed many signs of and so she didn't blame herself. Instead she learnt to be proud of it, just like her mother had taught her.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"You know, I don't know what your problem is, but I'm guessing it's hard to pronounce." These were her attempts to get the torture and attention off of her brother and onto her, but the situation wasn't exactly going as planned.

Naomi just shot her a deathly glower before yanking up Kili's sleeve to reveal a naked arm. His eyes widened in terror, breathing growling more and more erratic in panic at the sharp knife that she drew from inside her jacket, flicking off it's case with practised fingers and an evil smirk.

Kara's eyes widened in horror and she frantically shook her head. "Ok!" She yelled. "I'm sorry!"

"Teach her not to be rude. Also get my information woman, and hurry up I don't have all day." The king ordered impatiently though he looked as excited as something that filthy could get.

She grabbed Kili's neck and slammed him onto the ground forcefully, although he had already been lying down so it was a pointless exercise unless she was trying to cause as much pain as theoretically possible. "You entered a kingdom ruled by a bunch of goblins, why are you here?" She hissed into his face, pressings his arms into the ground where they dug painfully as Kara began to thrash inside the cage again, rocking it back and forth where it sent her sliding across the floor countless times from the water.

Kili sobbed beneath her, shaking his head slowly back and forth as tears streamed down his face. "I don't know!"

"Did you and your friends come here to thieve or kill?!" She screamed the last word.

"I don't know anything." He whispered. "Please! We don't know anything!" His voice cracked and wobbled through his sobs of agony.

She scoffed disbelievingly and brought her knife back up. "I don't believe it." She concluded, digging the knife into his skin as hard as she could before scraping it across his arm.

The tortured whimper that he released tore Kara's heart in two and tears streamed down her face like a dam escaping a bridge, more so when the whimper turned into a horrifyingly tortured scream.

The most pain-filled scream she thought she had ever heard.

"Knock it off!" She screamed herself, kicking mightily at the bars which rocked the cage back and forth continuously. "Please! He didn't do anything to you! It was me! You know it was me, you can have _me_!"

* * *

Fili looked up through the bars of the dungeons as a scream rang through the halls, a complete and utter petrified scream of agony and he cringed in horror, dozens of thoughts rushing through his head at once at what calamities could be causing those pain-filled caterwauls as he turned to his companions. "We have to do something!"

"There is no way out of here, we've tried everything." Balin informed them. "We're stuck."

"No we're not." Dori spoke up. "Don't you see? They're killing him! They'll torture Kili to death and then it will be Kara, and then one of us will be next! All for their own entertainment!"

"Stop it!" Bofur said, smacking him as Fili turned to look at the protective brother with wide, fearful eyes. Another scream rang out and they shifted, glancing at one another in worry. "Are you trying to crush every bit of hope that that lad is holding left?"

"We don't even know how long its been!" Gloin exclaimed, looking up from the bars where he was searching for a weak point. "I think he knows that hope is dying."

"Fifty seven minutes." Ori spoke up quietly, as everybody gazed at him in surprise and question. "Every minute a water drop falls from that stone." he pointed to one sticking out of the stone wall and Balin smiled.

"Good on ya lad." He praised as Ori blushed slightly. Another scream rang out, abruptly ending his smile and they all looked up again. Fili scoffed and turned to hs uncle who was quietly chewing on his fingernails as he tried to stop himself from pacing.

"Are you going to do anything?"

"What would you have me do, Fili?" Thorin queried irritably. "We can't get out of here."

"Yes you can." A voice called from in front of the bars. They all looked up in unison and a goblin sneered at them, many of his companions gathering into an assemble behind him. "The king wants you back up there."

"Why?" Thorin demanded, pushing his way to the front.

"Just come with us, dwarf." He ordered. "And don't you dare try any funny business or yer little ones with king will suffer even more."

"What are you doing to them?!" Fili questioned, panic gnawing desperately at his heart. "You slimy, filthy, immoral cr..."

"Fili, enough." Thorin ordered calmly, yanking the distraught dwarf back from the bars who followed numbly as the goblin unlocked the cage and yanked the terrified yet obedient dwarves out.

* * *

"Okay!" Kara yelled. "Okay." She sagged her shoulders, stopping her thrashing whilst she accepted defeat. "You win."

Kara smiled and dropped the knife to the floor with a clatter, letting Kili's scared arm fall to the floor in the process as she looked expectantly to the princess who slowly sank to the floor in dismay as the screams died down and became small whimpers. She crossed her legs and put her hands on the floor, silently apologizing profusely to her not present uncle. "We're journeying to Erebor to reclaim what is rightfully ours."

The goblin king victoriously clapped his hands together. "I knew it!" He screamed in triumph.

"Now you know, you can let us go." She hissed, trying to no avail not to let her voice quiver.

The goblin king chuckled lowly, looking expectantly to the bridge where noise began to arrive and hustling dwarves were manhandled by goblins along the familiar platform to stand once again in front of the giant throne in a huddled group. Kara wasn't sure whether to be relieved or terrified.

Fili locked eyes with his sister, asking a silent question on her health though he could see the burn marks littering her face and it angered him more than words could say. He spotted a lump lying on the floor at the foot of the throne and assumed in despair that it was his brother, though he was facing the other way. Fili followed the machines around the room before letting his glare rest on the goblin king's smirking face.

"I am releasing you all." His booming voice announced suddenly, his unexpected statement creating a stir of discontent among his followers.

Kara's head snapped up in surprise as she wondered whether the goblin king would continue with this declaration and she un-tensed her body, kneeling higher to send a swift sweep with her eyes over her family and friends, a small amount of hope entering her heart. Maybe they could all get out of this alive.

Thorin frowned, trying to figure out the king's play. He didn't want to cause any more trouble and so he stepped forward and answered back diplomatically. "I appreciate your sudden show of understanding. Why the change of heart?"

"You're niece has been very helpful." he answered. "I realise now that you weren't trying to thieve my kingdom and this was all one big misunderstanding."

Thorin dipped his head slightly, unsure whether this was all a trick but if it wasn't he didn't want to sway the decision, though he kept his precautions high. "Thank you for your generosity. If you would just release my niece and let us get my nephew we will be on our way." he looked above Kara's cage at the wood where a bunch of goblins stood with huge buckets of water and he grimaced at the sight of steam, aware that it had been tipped through the holes in the top of the cage and onto his niece, the thought making him desperate to kill every single creature responsible. He felt a new found form of energy rush through his body at this ponder. His gaze rested on the unmoving lump on the floor and he cringed, wondering about their next move.

"Now why would I do that?" he asked darkly, an evil glint shining in his eyes.

"You said you would." Fili pointed out skeptically.

"I said I would release you." He pointed to the crowd. "I never said anything about her."

Thorin looked up. "We are not leaving without my niece."

"Fine." He declared, voice rising in brewing anger. "I gave you your offer and you didn't take it. Don't say I didn't! Kill them, slaughter them all, cut off his head!"

Thorin was wrestled to the ground as the goblins burst into action out of respect for their king, yet also the amusement of causing bed events to beings who aren't themselves. A goblin towered over him with a huge knife as Kara stared out of the cage with wide eyes, bashing the bars to make clanging sounds that she was sick of hearing, but she honestly couldn't help herself. Her hands were black because of it though she couldn't care less.

Before Thorin even had the chance to react a brilliant flash of white light washed over the cavern and a powerful burst of wind knocked all standing up onto the ground in a messy heap. Kara blinked and shook her head clear, looking around to see what had caused the disturbance. Her sight rested on the unhelpful wizard who had clearly decided to be of some use as he stood proudly atop a large bolder like an unexpected saviour. "Take up arms! All of you, fight. Fight!"

So they did. Thorin was the first to rise, catching a blow to the arm but he snapped the neck of the goblin and hastily searched for their weapons with his eyes as he tried to defend himself at the same time. Eventually he spotted them. "Dwalin!" He yelled, his oldest friend immediately doing what he knew his king wanted and raced over to the pile, tossing each form of defense to their rightful owners. He found Ori's slingshot and smiled slightly, throwing it to the innocent dwarf who took it but didn't put it to use, instead doing an impressive elbow into the face of a goblin that looked as though he was attempting to bite the back of Fili's neck, abruptly sending him tumbling to the floor. Dead.

He came to Kara's sword and looked to the hanging cage where Nori was picking the lock, Fili defending his back, and decided to wait until the girl was free before chucking it to her. He then came to Kili's bow at the bottom of the stash and noticed that nobody was actually helping the unconscious dwarf off of the floor, though looking around nobody was really available to do so.

Kara's cage door got thrown open and she practically fell out, clasping Nori's shoulder in thanks as the thief nodded and was swiftly on his way to help elsewhere. She gripped onto a bar and began to climb up the outside -catching her sword with one hand in the process which was hurled in her direction - until she was on top of the cage, trying not to let her feet fall though the holes. Her torturers above on the wood spotted her move and growled, jumping onto the cage.

She threw one off with a sudden burst of explosive strength with her arms before sending her leg backwards into another who too tumbled to his death. She grasped onto the wood and clambered up, faced with more and more goblins who were attempting to throw the water out onto the dwarves though it was affecting their own kin who were in the rubble too. They spotted her and stopped, changing tactic and swinging their swords her way. She blocked a blow and sent a kick to a goblin's side before twirling under the arm of another and chopping his head off with a gruesome slimy sound. Buckets of water were tipped over from where they sat in a line on the floor in their fighting and she tried not to slip as she fought three more, swiping, kicking and killing as best she could. To make her family proud. To prove that she had been ready for this quest.

"Stop!" An unfamiliar voice to many of the dwarves, that of a woman, rang out and everyone paused, looking up. Naomi held Kili's shaking body against her own, a sword pressed to his neck. She looked as though she wouldn't hesitate to slit at any moment. His eyes were open but barely, staring in a squint to whatever was above them, tears in the corner of his eyes though nothing more as he struggled to breathe.

Fili looked with wide eyes up to his sister from his position at the bottom of the cage who thought of an idea and gestured for him to come up, and so he tried to slyly and unnoticeably climb the bars to reach her. This succeeded for the tense attentions of everyone in the room were either focused on Kili or the goblin king. The wizard noticed what they were trying to do and smiled, seeing no reason to interfere with magic but he could help out with vocals. "Aren't you a coward?" He asked Naomi. Everyone turned to look in his direction as if he was absolutely nuts.

"What?" She hissed in a bitter response.

Thorin nodded in agreement, watching Kara and Fili carefully walk across the wooden planks above with a bucket of water held between them, trying not to let the liquid slosh and make a sound or overflow the edge and draw attention to themselves. "Aye." he spoke up. "Using those who cannot fight back as a shield instead of coming out here makes you a coward, witch."

She glared at him darkly as if in recognition of who he was, gaze only managing to look away when a noise above her twitched at her ears and she slowly looked up. As Kara and Fili moved to tip the bucket of steaming water over her head she did exactly what they were hoping for and screamed, stepping back and releasing the dwarf from her death grip who fell with a yelp into Thorin's waiting arms. The water fell with a splatter onto the spot where Naomi and Kili had just been stood and didn't land on anybody. Kara scoffed in amusement, happy that her plan had unfolded how she pleased this time.

_Coward._

"Follow me!" Gandalf yelled behind him. Kara and Fili ran back across, dropping the bucket off the edge and onto an empty spot on the floor where the water had just spread before swiftly hopping down and chasing the wizard across platforms of different lengths, sizes and heights. Kili was thrown their direction in the midst of it all and her and Fili slung an arm each under his shoulders, dragging him along through the crowd of dwarves who yearned for nothing more than to break out into the safe clutches of daylight.

* * *

**I bullied them a** **_lot,_ ** **I know :( Btw Naomi will play quite a large role in this story, as will a couple of friends...a lot of stuff will happen in Mirkwood involving only the trio and no other company members which I can't wait to write, but that's all I'm giving away!**

**So, what do ya'll think? Kara only just got hurt at Rivendell so I gave Kili the pain, plus I knew she would spill because she cares more for her brother than the pride you would feel for not cracking under the pressure of enemies.**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	11. Heat and Smoke in a Little Bit of Fire

On Thorin's command the company set out towards the only light emitting from the cavern's opening, fighting their way vigorously. Kara slashed her sword at the goblin who spoke for his fellow companions before stabbing his stomach hard, listening with a satisfied huff as he squealed and plopped onto the floor, just like the filth deserved. She whipped her head back and forth in search of Naomi who was nowhere to be seen, resurfacing the anger which distracted her for a moment until Fili yanked desperately on her arm, reminding her of their dire situation.

Gandalf led the whole time as Kara helped her fellow companions plunge a stick into the bodies of the goblins, knocking numerous amounts off the edge as the remainder got beaten with weapons. She tried to support her youngest brother who slashed when he felt he could but otherwise relied heavily on the weight of his siblings, acting as an unintentional burden, but Kara didn't mind.

What annoyed her was how she couldn't see over the top of the chaos and consistently had to move her head to look from the ground to the enemies to where to jump to above the crowd when she vainly attempted to see if she could see the tip of a familiar wizard hat somewhere. Oin swung his staff in circles to knock back the creatures surrounding him, Gloin and Bifur acted as the attackers for they ran at the front of the group (aside the wizard), knocking goblins off of the edge of the raised pathways with Bombur close behind, beating any goblins that slipped past them with his frying pan.

"Cut the ropes!" She barely heard the order at this point but in a daze threw a knife to Nori who had needed one and he used it to do said order as dwarves by him sliced their knives through the others, the goblins that had previously attempted to use them as vines didn't make it to the other side and twirled like a whirlwind around another falling bridge, supposedly dead.

The company ran away and she let go of Kili, letting him fall into Fili as she saw Ori alone facing a group of goblins. The princess ran over and assisted him, ultimately winding up in them shooting arrows at her with crossbows, most of which she deflected with her sword but when they kept coming in bigger amounts she decided she needed a different shield and did the first thing she could think of; she ran over to a wooden ladder which was conveniently right next to her and used it as her form of protection until her idea developed further and she lay it on it's side, ramming it into the goblins which knocked them off of the edge of squished them, or their heads got caught in the gaps and their eyes widened as they choked, their necks forcefully being pushed back.

A few company members helped her sprint with it and did this until they came to an edge and used it as a bridge which they knocked away once everyone was safely on the other side. They made it to another wooden plank which everyone jumped on, some company members managing to hop onto the other side though some had to wait for it to swing once again before being able to jump to relative safety themselves. Kili produced the energy to slice his sword through the rope which made the goblins that tried to jump to their location plummet down to the darkness below and die.

The hecticness didn't end though and Ori got into a fight with what he thought was a goblin and he began to slash wildly with his eyes closed at the girl who deflected his blows and shot him a scrutinizing glare once he came to the realisation that he was, in fact, fighting a princess. He meekly apologized and busied himself helping with pushing a bolder away so he had an excuse not to finish the conversation. They chased it down a steep slope where it crushed many a goblin and ended up a few levels down, which could be thousands or a just few levels up from the bottom. She hoped it was the latter so there was less chance of someone falling and dying.

As the dwarves reached their final bridge to freedom she found her eyes brightening immensely when she saw the glorious sunlight stretching through the large opening. Her excitement was short lives when the goblin king burst through the middle of the bridge, shattering the wood and abruptly stopping them in their tracks.

"You thought you could escape me?" He asked, bashing his weapon in the direction of the dwarves. Fili used his spare arm to clutch his sister's wrist, breathing in relief that she was ok. He had been yelling her name and she hadn't answered, presumably having not heard over the chaos. "The destroyer of all happiness? The seeker of precious jewels and the ruler of the dark? The king of ALL goblins?!"

"My, you think rather highly of yourself." Gandalf remarked confidently as he began to take measured steps towards the giant king.

The goblin king's yellow eyes locked onto the wizard, a furious fire blazing in his glare. "And what are you going to do about it?"

Gandalf lunged forward slicing his sword across the goblin's neck and stomach to create sharp slits which brought the creature to his knees. "That'll do it." He confirmed, somewhat in shock before another strike to his flabby chin knocked him onto his front where he dangled. His weight began to break the dwarves source of ground, however, and Kara whimpered in panic and returned the grab onto Fili.

The next event was an absolute blur and she was awestruck that all of them survived, but the wood they were standing on dropped and they fell with it, down down down...in goblin town. She cringed at her own thoughts but decided that in answer to her previous wonders about how many levels they were up she supposed it was a lot, for they fell extremely far before finally landing in a heap (with some of the wood still remaining) with startled grunts onto the rock hard ground.

She scrunched up her face in pain even though she didn't get the worst of the fall for she was on the top and delicately climbed down. Her delicacy turned into a scramble when she saw the shadow of something extremely large falling above her and her feet only just hit the ground when the great, deceased goblin king landed on top of them, giving them the sensation of being re crushed. Bofur moaned for it was just after he had attempted to lighten the mood with a positive 'well that could have been worse' and Dwalin cursed viciously in khudzal before turning back to common tongue. "You've got to be joking!" He hissed.

Kara walked over to assist him and pulled the planks off of his body to allow his grumbling to continue whilst he was stood up. She sighed and locked eyes with Fili who was staring in horror at something behind her. "Gandalf!" he yelled, putting everybody into high alert as they spun around to see what was troubling the blonde. Thousands of goblins were running down the stone in the near distance in their direction, weapons raised and angry expressions plastered on their mangled faces.

"There's too many! We can't fight them!" She said hastily as Gandalf nodded in agreement.

"There's only one thing that will save us now; daylight! Come on!" So they were once again running and she tried not to pant, considering everything that Balin used to teach her about anaerobic respiration which was definitely needed at this moment, though she wasn't sure her body was producing energy for by the time they broke out into the glimmering sunlight which she longed for so much she had practically collapsed onto the floor.

Gandalf ushered them with his hand though, willing them to continue to get as far away from any danger as possible. The exhausted dwarves took advantage of the cover of the trees and came to a halt, much to everybody's relief. Kara put her hands on her knees and panted as Fili swung Kili around and the archer slumped down against the tree, releasing a pained whimper that tore her heart in two and she made her way over as Gandalf counted to make sure everybody was present.

Her and her brother immediately began to check him over even though he batted them away with his hands, insisting he was ok. "Did those things hurt you?" He demanded to Kara who rolled her eyes.

"Not as much as they hurt you."

"Fili, put water on those burns." He ordered to the blonde, voice hushed and raspy, who caught a canteen that Thorin threw his way and poured it over her face. It felt amazing, the feeling of cool instead of constantly hot washing over face and she closed her eyes for a moment before glaring at Fili.

"What are you using it on me for?" She hissed as Fili rolled his eyes and brought the bottle to Kili's lips.

"What did they do to him?" Fili asked, pulling his sister into an embrace, stroking the back of her hair to reassure himself that she was really there.

"Whips." She muttered. "She scratched his arm, machine..."

Fili sighed and called Oin over who began to bandage Kili's whip lashes and pulled up his tunic sleeve, gasping at the mark that the knife had left.

Naomi had carved _Blitz_ into his arm.

"What does this mean?" Oin questioned as Thorin, Fili and Kara gathered around in a circle.

"I don't know." Kara whispered.

Kili rolled his eyes and grabbed at his tunic sleeve, yanking it down. "Its fine." he muttered as the company around them shifted uncomfortably.

"Ok, if..." Kara began before the unmistakable drabble of the wizard interrupted her mid sentence.

"Where's Bilbo?" She felt her heart drop and looked around her, taking her attention off of everything else for a moment. "Where is our hobbit?!"

"Curse that hafling!" Dwalin yelled after a moment of silence. "Now he's lost?"

"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin accused.

"Don't blame me!" The dwarf fired back innocently.

"Well where did you last see him?" Kara asked.

"I think I saw him slip away when they first collared us." Nori spoke up.

"And what happened exactly? Tell me!" Gandalf demanded, showing his first signs of worry since they first set out on the quest. Kara was relieved that he had this emotion; she was beginning to think that wizards spent their life knowing everything was fine.

"I'll tell you what happened." Thorin stepped forward, abruptly halting any suggestion that was ready to be tossed into the atmosphere. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and warm hearth since he first stepped out of his door. We will not be seeing out hobbit again, he is long gone."

Kara refused to believe this and wanted to tell her uncle so. He got captured with them and she was certain that even if he did try to escape he wouldn't have been able to. Goblin tunnels were like a labyrinth.

"No, he isn't." her thoughts were confirmed when the hafling stepped out from behind a tree and joined their crowd.

"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life." Gandalf chuckled in amazement.

Kara shook her head in awe. "Bilbo! We'd actually given up on you! But how in mahal's name did you get past the goblins?" She questioned, stepping forward and grinning at Bilbo who returned the gesture.

Bilbo chuckled and reached into his pocket for something. Kara narrowed her eyes suspiciously when Gandalf intentionally spoke to stop him from pulling out whatever was in there with a "Well, what does it matter? He's back."

"It matters." Thorin spoke up. "I want to know. Why did you come back?"

Everyone glanced expectantly at Bilbo who stammered in the beginning of his next sentence but the further he got to the end the more confident he became at admitting his thoughts and he raised his chin high. "Look, I know you doubt me. I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, and my arm chair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you, but I will help you take it back if I can."

The company pondered his heart warming words for a moment; Kara was slightly saddened at the realisation that she did not have a home but also felt her heart swell with pride - this hafling was risking his perfect and innocent life to help a bunch of strangers so that they could have one for themselves, even though he had absolutely no reason to whatsoever.

A couple of deadly howls in the near distance pierced the night and interrupted their silence. Kara knew that they were howls from the enemy. A curse spewed from her lips for she needed a break from moving but decided that it wasn't going to be given to her yet. She dropped hastily to her knees beside her brother and with quick fingers finished tying off the bandaged that Oin had put on Kili before glancing readily at her uncle.

"Out of the frying pan..." Thorin sighed.

"And into the fire." Gandalf finished for him. "Run. Run!"

The company jumped to their feet if they were sitting and spurred forward if they were standing and charged down the steepest parts of the mountain before they were forced to slow their pace when they were on level ground and certain that if they continued to sprint they would fall off some large drop to an impending doom. This was the right idea. Kara and Fili continued to drag their protesting brother down until they reached a large outcropping that opened up before their eyes when she finally released him with the knowledge that she would be forced to fight here. Some trees were randomly scattered around her, one of which towered over a huge cliff edge, hence why it was a good idea to stop their darting. The fall was so big that one who stood on the edge couldn't even see the ground at the bottom. They were trapped.

Kara threw a knife at a warg that was advancing on the hobbit which killed it, and she readed another when one more sniffed at the hafling but didn't need to use it for Bilbo held out his sword and it sliced straight through the head of the enemy when it pounced. Kara smiled with pride, even though she was fairly certain that it hadn't really been intentional.

"Up into the trees! All of you! Come on, climb! Bilbo, climb!" The wizard demanded.

"Quickly!" Thorin added, locking eyes with his niece who nodded. She spun around and saw the rest of the crew far too close for her liking. "They're coming!" She yelled as she helped haul Kili into a tree before jumping herself, her fingers slipping but the blonde and brunette caught her and pulled her up where she continued to climb as far away from their nasty claws as possible. She glanced at Kili to check he was ok; with the adrenaline rush and Oin's care he seemed to be functioning a lot better but she was still cautious.

The remainder of the enemy scampered below them, tearing at the tree trunks in an attempt to break them and pawing at the ground viciously.

They all stopped when a snow white warg threateningly snarled behind them as he climbed up a rock and sniffed the air. His rider put every member of the company into high alert and unease, aside the trio. They guessed who he was, but they had never seen him before so they were not seeing a ghost. They were seeing a famous calamity for the first time.

"Azog?" Thorin asked in shock, his countenance an expression of pure horror.

 **"Do you smell it? The scent of fear?"** Azog asked his companions snarkily, glaring at Thorin bitterly. **"I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin, son of Thrain."**

"It cannot be." Thorin whispered.

Azog smirked, pointing to Thorin with his mace. **"That one is mine, kill the others!"**

At this command the company were forced to climb as high as possible whilst the wargs leapt in the air, biting and clawing at their branches at an attempt to break them. Kara kicked her foot into one, watching it squeal and fall before furrowing her brow; this was hopeless.

 **"Drink their blood!"** The pale orc shouted from where he sat atop his pet, doing absolutely nothing to help. _Coward,_ Kara thought as she grasped another branch after she felt hers snap and she almost fell. Suddenly she heard a creak, and then she could feel the sudden rush of a breeze and knew for certain that the tree was falling sideways. She whipped her head back and forth hastily for a tree branch when hers cracked and snapped with the tree, and she reached out a hand to meet Fili's which was reaching for her, but it didn't succeed.

She was falling.

Her fingers had curled around his own for a moment until they slipped and her body smacked into many of the broken tree branches until she landed with a thud on the hard ground, knocking the wind out of her. She was on her butt, back leaning against the trunk of a tree and she blinked, looking wearily above her where the trees played dominos and each dwarf was forced to bound from one to the next as they fell until eventually they were all on the one final tree towering over the cliff edge. She scrambled back, still not stood up properly as the wargs advanced on her and sprinted around the base of the tree until she was overlooking the cliff edge. The girl glanced above her to see if she could jump at all to any branches but they were all out of reach.

Fili and Kili desperately searched for their sister in the midst of it all, crying out her name but they couldn't hear her muffled response.

A warg was about to pounce on her although she had a knife at the ready but she didn't need to use it for flames erupted from out of nowhere from the ground which sent the wargs shuffling backwards, whining at the heat and danger that would be brought were they to do so much as touch it.

"Fili!" A voice above the blonde startled him from desperately searching the lower ground for a missing girl and his reaction time was so lousy that he barely caught the flaming pine cone in time, but when he did he bounced it up and down in his hands a few times before throwing it at the wargs when he was sure his sister wasn't there. He looked worriedly down the deadly cliff edge, hoping with everything he had in him that she hadn't taken a fall of a little tumble.

Kara, however, had not, but she was completely stuck by the side of the tree or on the cliff edge. She grasped onto any jagged bits of the trunk that she could hold onto for it was the only way she could stay alive; if moved any further forward she would sizzle to death from the flames and if she moved far back she knew she would clumsily fall off of the edge and she couldn't climb the trunk for it was too high.

She had no idea what to do.

The dwarves all yelled in triumph as the creatures backed away but their victory was short lived when the roots detached themselves, broke apart and made the tree tilt off of the edge. Kara squealed in panic at the thought that she was about to be crushed and just jumped. In a moment of swift luck she was hugging the tree trunk that was now lying on its horizontal side and she clambered ungracefully to stand on top of it.

The company behind her scattered on the branches yelled in relief at her re-appearance, aside Ori and Dori who were yelling at the wizard as the latter's grip began to slip. They had fallen earlier with the tree and had been in the position of Dori clinging onto the branch and Ori holding his foot desperately. Dori let go with a grunt and Gandalf was quick to thrust down his staff which Dori managed to grab, but now the position was a lot more dangerous although nobody could help them up.

Thorin found himself standing up, the adrenaline of all of this rushing through his veins and the anger he felt as he once more locked eyes with the pale orc was immense and he was slowly walking along the trunk and in that direction. Kara was just about to walk back and join the others when she saw him coming and she stared at him in horror. "Uncle?" She asked, beginning to panic when he completely ignored her. She wasn't even sure if he heard her. "Uncle? Uncle what are you doing?!" His focus, however, was on Azog, his death stare so angry that he could probably penetrate Smaug with it if need be. He ran straight past her and she stopped in her tracks, watching him pick up speed as he got more and more confident.

The moment was so tense she was surprised she didn't fall right off the tree trunk.

Thorin raised his sword as he neared his enemy as Azog's evil grin widened and he leapt his warg off of the rock and above Thorin's head, knocking the king straight onto the ground.

"No!" She screamed as she gathered herself and began to move forward.

Thorin regained enough strength to stand back up on shaky legs. He wasn't giving up that easy. It wasn't a good idea though for he was still slightly traumatized by the whole goblin ordeal and he was tired, whereas Azog was so full of energy that he barely needed to move his arm to strike the blow to Thorin's face with his deadly mace which knocked him forcefully back onto the ground.

Kara's eyes welled with tears and she heard a faint 'no' behind her which she presumed was on Balin.

Azog's warg clamped his jaws around Thorin's limp body who yelled in pain as Kara slid off of the tree trunk numbly and tried to figure out what her next battle move should be. Thorin swung his sword, knocking the teeth off of his body but he got flung onto a rock as a result.

**"Bring me the dwarf's head."**

The orc who planned on fulfilling this command placed his sword against Thorin's neck who writhed beneath him before raising it high, ready to strike the blow of a lifetime. Kara hurried her pace but she knew she couldn't make it and she cried out as the sword moved down, but in the next second the orc was on the floor and the hobbit was rolling on top of him, stabbing at his chest to kill.

"Bilbo!" Kara yelled in triumph as she entered the clearing in relief and placed herself as a shield in front of Thorin's body.

**"Kill him."**

Kara's eyes widened and she pulled out her sword and began to fight; fought for Erebor, fought for Bilbo, fought for herself, but most importantly of all, she fought for Thorin.

As much as she hated to admit it and despite her best efforts there was no doubt that her and Bilbo were losing this fight. She looked around hastily for help as she slashed at a warg in front of her as three other enemies surrounded her, growling threateningly. However, each one was taken back by an individual as Fili, Kili and Dwalin slammed into the battle with her and left her with one enemy to tackle which she was able to do with a little duck and a couple of stabs.

She noticed Azog advancing on Bilbo and recklessly ran after him, slashing her sword at the butt of the warg who roared in pain and spun around to face her, Azog still atop it and glaring at her. In that moment she was terrified but held her chin high all the same with her sword held out defensively.

The warg pounced and she ducked, surprisingly getting a very decent stab to its stomach and it rolled to the side, Azog falling off it in the process. The creature stood up and roared at her, snarking as it slashed with its paw before jumping over her again and she did such a Bilbo like move which was holding her sword out with no idea what to do and surprisingly watching it plunge into the pale warg's neck. Maybe it was luck or maybe it was a good decision.

 _Man, that hobbit is contagious,_ she thought to herself with a slight smirk.

Either way the throat of the creature was shattered and he rolled onto the ground next to her.

Dead.

Azog was angrier than words could say and raised his mace to strike a final blow and end the dwarf's life when an eagle swooped in and grasped her in its talons. She screamed for she didn't know what it was and when she looked up all she could see was a giant bird kidnapping her. It threw her and she soared through the air before landing on the back of another, soaking in the feeling of its warm feathers. She felt herself relax when this happened to her companions too as one by one they got picked off of the tree. The eagles knocked over a tree to crush the orcs and wargs whilst also throwing a couple of them straight off the edge.

An unconscious Thorin gently got scooped up in the talons of the lord of the eagles and carried away, Dwalin got lifted up despite his grumbling, followed by the hobbit who like the majority of them had no idea what was happening, then Gandalf who found himself jumping off of the tree as it was about to break until finally her brothers got grabbed by the same eagle from a ring of fire and were simultaneously dropped to land on the back of her eagle and she smiled in greeting.

"Kara?" Fili asked.

"Mahal, sweetie, we thought you were dead." Kili added from behind his brother, closing his eyes in relief.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, pressing her forehead against theirs briefly before looking back out to the eagles flying around her.

"Thorin!" Fili cried, trying to peer over the many heads to look at his uncle.

The majestic birds continued to fly, dipping down to follow stream creaks in rocks or soaring above bumps of many different greenery shades until eventually they made it to a large rock in the shape of a bear which Gandalf called the Carrok. Kara slid off of her eagle and rushed over to her uncle who was still unconscious and got carefully placed onto the ground before his eagle bowed and followed his companions away.

"Thorin!" Gandalf yelled as he slid off of his eagle and ran over to the king. "Thorin."

"Uncle?" Kara asked in concern from where she now stood with her arms wrapped nervously around her stomach as Fili held her close, Kili slumping onto his knees beside them as he tilted his head and stared numbly at Thorin, not really aware of his surroundings.

Gandalf hovered a hand above Thorin's face and muttered indistinctly to himself as everyone around him held their breaths and fidgeted in anticipation until eventually Thorin's eyelids fluttered and they cracked open.

Kara had never felt so relieved.

"The hafling?" were the first words out of Thorin's mouth.

"It's alright." Gandalf answered.

"Bilbo is here. He is safe, uncle." Kara assured him, grabbing Bilbo by the arm and spinning him to stand by her so he could see.

Fili released his sister and rushed forward to help Thorin who had a little trouble standing up and batted him and Dwalin away. "You." He accused, turning on Bilbo angrily. "What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild, and you had no place amongst us?"

Kara couldn't believe her ears and blinked in shock, shaking her head to make sure she was seeing and hearing this right. _If it wasn't for Bilbo you would be dead,_ Kara hissed to herself and opened her mouth to speak up but didn't need to make a sound after Thorin's next words.

"I have never been so wrong in all my life." He admitted, yanking Bilbo into a tight embrace who startled. The company cheered and applauded at the touching scene as Bilbo let himself smile and returned the gesture slightly until Thorin pulled away and held him at arms length. "But I'm sorry I doubted you."

"No, I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero, nor a warrior. Not even a burglar."

Kili snorted from his position on the ground and Kara glared at him so he looked the other direction and let the breeze blow his hair back and sooth his thoughts for a moment as the company took their attention off of him and back onto the squawking eagles who flew past them and whatever Thorin was staring at fixedly in the distance.

When Kara laid eyes on it she was so in awe that she reached for Kili without looking at the ground and when she yanked him up he tripped over her foot and both would have gone tumbling down the hill had Fili not grabbed her arm and dragged her in the direction of the company who were ambling slowly towards the edge of the cliff to take a closer look.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked.

"The lonely mountain." Kara whispered, moving to stand next to her uncle who smiled approvingly at her and placed an arm around her shoulders as they stared out at the horizon.

"Erebor. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms of Middle-Earth." Gandalf elaborated.

"Our home."

* * *

**This took me a while to write but the next chapter will be up sooooon I promise! Bold means the orcs are speaking in black speech, just in case you didn't catch onto that... I am gonna go back and edit this chapter cuz I wrote it in one sitting and read it through only once for if I'd read it again I wouldn't have been able to focus so I'm going for it! So sorry if it's a little lousy but I wanted to get something posted. Also good on Kara for killing Azog's orc with surprising ease am I right... :/ Maybe fighting like a clueless hobbit really works! What do you think? Lemme knowww and continue to DM me on here or fanfic :)**

**Hope you** **enjoyed! :** )


	12. A Skin-Changer

Kara waited impatiently for the return of the hobbit. Bilbo had been sent away to scout less than five minutes ago and she was surprised at how he had set out with not even a mere moan of complaint. Ten months ago the hafling barely had the courage to set foot out of his door and now he was hunting out the creatures who almost killed her uncle less than a week ago. She shivered at the thought before smiling at how much the hobbit had changed; and it was for the better.

In this time Kara had had the adventure of a lifetime and she could scream in excitement at how there was still so much more to come. So far she had ridden an eagle, been captured by goblins, been chased by wargs and orcs, nearly drowned in a river, befriended elves...it was like a dream.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Fili tossed.

She blinked and grinned up at him. "I swear the last few months have flown by."

Kili snorted and walked over to them. "I think Bilbo will have a lot to say about that comment."

Fili slapped him. "Now now, he seems to be doing relatively well."

"This is taking so long! What if he's dead?" Ori squeaked in terror, yanking them from their conversation and she looked up. "I can't take it...I can't take the tension. I can't take it!"

Kili smirked. "Just checking, can you take it?"

Kara rolled her eyes. She was sick of Kili's morose attitude. His wounds had healed for the most part and he was acting fine, but Kara could tell something was nagging at him and knew that it was the weird scar on his arm that had died down a lot. They were still all trying to figure out what that meant.

Bilbo rounded the corner then and she could hear Ori's sigh of up most relief.

"How close is the pack?" Thorin demanded to the hobbit who was slightly breathless and placed his hands on his thighs to catch his breath for a moment.

"Too close, couple of leagues, no more. But that's not the worst of it."

"Have the Orcs picked up our scent?" Dwalin asked with rising annoyance.

"Not yet, but they will do. We have another problem."

"Did they see you? They saw you." Gandalf told himself.

"No, that's not it."

Good, what did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material."

The dwarves began agreeing with Gandalf as the talking amongst one another rose immensely.

"Will you listen!"

"Let the guy speak." Kara ordered, quieting every member of the company which surprised her. The impressed smirk that Thorin sent in her direction wasn't missed.

"Thank you." Bilbo said to her. "I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there."

"What form did it take? Like a bear?" The wizard further questioned for specifics.

"Ye…Yes, but bigger. Much bigger." Everyone stared at Gandalf.

"You knew about this beast?" Bofur asked for them before sighing when he received no answer. "I say we double back."

"And be run down by a pack of Orcs?" The exiled king pointed out.

"There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge." Gandalf told them.

"Whose house? Are they friend or foe?"

"Neither. He will help us or he will kill us."

"Well what choice do we have?" Kara asked as everyone looked at her uncle in question.

A creature howled in the distance, an unfamiliar roar, one she had never heard before in her life.

"None." He answered bluntly and they were off. They hastened in the direction that Gandalf made them, darting hurriedly across fields, around streams, through a small forest and towards a house that nobody could actually see, though Gandalf assured them that it was there. Bombur seemed to refuel with energy and Kara was surprised how fast he could sprint, considering when she first met him she had wondered how the fat cook could even walk, let alone outrun a bunch of twelve other sprinting dwarves. She pumped her legs to make it to the door, gaining momentum with each push when she heard the bear close behind them. She continued to quicken her pace until her steps became leaps and she rushed through the door along with the rest of her companions and attempted to slam it shut in the face of the creature. Her breathing tried to calm itself but it was nearly impossible for it needed to appease her desperation for oxygen.

"Get inside, all of you!" The wizard ordered to the ones still trying to squeeze themselves in and they hastily obeyed. They door was stuck, two forces pushing it in two directions, as the bear had made it to them before they could completely slam the entrance shut. The peak of its snout was demanding a taste of their flesh as he fought against the door, and the dwarves were all yelling as they pushed against the power, determined not to let it win. Kara reached forward and punched it's snout forcefully, knocking it back and the door was able to shut. Sighs of relief and exhaustion broke out through the dwarves and Ori was the first to ask the question that everyone was wondering.

"What is that?!"

"That is our host." Gandalf replied calmly, though he looked very uncertain. The dwarves turned to look at him in confusion, demanding elaboration. "His name is Beorn, he's a skin-changer. Sometimes he's a huge black bear, sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overly fond of dwarves."

"He's leaving!" Ori exclaimed, who was standing closest to the door and could hear the muffled footsteps of the bear hesitantly backing away.

Dori stomped over and yanked him away. "Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it. It's obvious, he's under some dark spell." He told the company.

Fili's eyes widened at the protectiveness of Dori and he felt Kara nudge him, making him glare at her and amble in the direction of the corner.

"Don't be a fool." Gandalf told him. "He's under no enchantment but his own." He removed his hat and looked around the room doubtfully. "Alright now, get some sleep all of you. You'll be safe here tonight." he ordered before looking out. "I hope."

"I think mum will be a little perturbed that we fought against the force of a bear." Kara whispered to Kili who smirked.

"He's kinda cute."

Dwalin stood behind them and glanced at their burglar who was sat by Fili, huddled against the wall with an expression of terror on his face and his arms curled around his knees for comfort. "Bilbo disagrees."

Kili stared at him numbly. "Bilbo yells at his pony."

Dwalin chuckled as Kara shook her head with a smile, moving to sit next to Fili and the hobbit to offer some comfort as she tried to get as much rest as possible, hoping that her flesh wouldn't somehow be ripped off in the middle of her slumber.

* * *

The next morning Kara awoke to the sound of Bombur's stomach grumbling. She glowered at his sleeping body and wafted away some wasps that flew around her with her hands before glancing around to see who was awake.

Nobody was, in answer to her wonderings, aside Bilbo.

He was holding something in his hands; something gold. He was observing it with a sense of delirious amazement as though it compelled him. She shifted her position so she was on her hands and knees like a newborn unable to walk and crawled over to him. When he noticed her he hastily shoved it back into his pocket. She tilted her head silently at him before sighing and moving to sit on the wall next to him.

"You know, you came on this quest to help us out and you are doing a grand job, but you need to understand that we're all a team. We help each other; Bombur's here to cook and we help him, Thorin's here to lead and we help him, Balin's here for brains and we help him, Kili's here to cover long distances and we help him with other weapons...but if you don't tell us things then you're gonna have to go through it separately." She smiled at him when he blushed and shyly looked in the other direction. "And you cannot handle that."

He smiled at her slight playfulness, understanding what she was hinting at and he pulled the ring from his pocket. "I found this in the goblin tunnels."

Something about it mesmerised her; it almost looked as though it was glowing. She reached a hand forward to touch it before pulling it away and shaking her head from the trance. "W...what is it?"

Bilbo slipped the ring on his finger and she stared blankly as he disappeared altogether. She widened her eyes in alarm. "Bilbo?" She whispered. He reappeared right in front of her again in the exact same spot which she continued to stare at in shock as he spoke.

"There is something magical about this ring. Its like it has a voice. Like it..."

"Have you told Gandalf?" She interrupted as she tore her eyes away from the spot and to his confused face.

"Well um...no..."

"You need to."

"I will, just not yet."

"Why?"

"It's not the time."

"And when will be the time?"

He shook his head. "Look, when we leave here I will tell him. I don't want to wake him now."

"Please make sure you do, ok, it could be dangerous."

"I know."

"I'm going back to sleep." She told him. "You should too."

"I will."

She sighed, letting her head rest back on her bedroll until she was once again dreaming.

* * *

"Kara." Fili was shaking her awake and when she opened her eyes blinding rays interrupted her sight.

"What?" She groaned in irritation as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"The skin-changer is here. Bilbo and Gandalf just left to speak to him."

She stood up and wandered over to where the company stood, pushing a few out of the way so she could sit next to Bofur and see what he was seeing through a window. Bilbo and Gandalf stood in front of a very tall man who worryingly held an axe as though he was about to chop their heads off at any second, presumably why Gandalf was trying so hard to keep the situation under control and not set his temper off.

"Go, go." Bofur ushered to Balin and Dwalin once he had filled Kara in on their plan, mistaking Gandalf holding his hand up for the signal so the duo exited together. Beorn, from her sight, did not looked pleased to see them and growled, raising his axe threateningly. Bofur continued to send more and more out. Kara and her brothers were ready to go when Thorin put a hand on her shoulder.

"You will come out with me." he told her and she nodded, watching her brothers depart and stand in front of the skin changer who glowered at the two.

"Are there anymore?" Kara heard the skin changer say when it was only her and her uncle left who took that moment to step outside. Beorn seemed to recognize Thorin and tilted his head before looking at Kara and stepping back in surprise.

"Your hair..."

Kara rolled her eyes. She had always been a small, pretty little thing, unlike a lot of her kin back in the Blue Mountains. Her eyes were a deep forest green but her hair was her most eye-catching feature; it was long, curly and ginger with one white streak woven into it which she had been born with. She didn't mind it though, and everybody was quick to compliment it though they always questioned what it was.

Beorn shook his head and changed the subject. "Come on in, I suppose you should eat."

Within the next five minutes everybody was gratefully seated around Beorn's dining table, brandishing the food that he offered whilst he told his story. Kara pitied him for he had said he was the only one left of his kind. She couldn't imagine going through what he and his own kin had been through.

He explained why he hated dwarves, for their beings were 'greedy and blind' which was fair enough, she supposed, for many a kind thought of her people that way and it was impossible for them to understand the truth.

"But orcs I hate more." He spoke, spinning around to face them with a new speck of determination shining brightly in his aged eyes. "What do you need?"

* * *

Kara spurred her pony forward after flashing a quick goodbye smile to Beorn who nodded at her before leaving. He almost looked sad. "Keep up!" Thorin yelled behind him as he desperately tried to get them away from their hunters. "Come on!"

She urged her pony to move quicker at his plea and soon made it to the edge of the forest where the speed stopped and everyone slid off of their steeds.

"Here lies our path through Mirkwood." Gandalf declared.

"No sign of the orcs. We have luck on our side." Dwalin informed them in relief.

"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master."

"This forest feels sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?" Bilbo asked.

"Not unless we go two hundred miles north or twice that distance south..."

"We're not doing that." Kara said as she yanked her foot out of the stirrup.

"Then we must go." Thorin threw in as he tossed his saddle to Bombur who was helping Bofur to set them free.

"Not my horse, I need it!" Gandalf suddenly said as he ran back to them from wherever he had gone - Kara wasn't sure.

"You're not leaving us?" Bilbo asked.

"I would not do this unless I had to." He stopped to look at Bilbo as everybody scoffed at their wizard. "You have changed, Bilbo Baggins, You're not the same hobbit as the one who left the Shire."

Bilbo glanced at Kara who knew what he was silently asking and she dipped her head in encouragement.

"I was going to tell you..." He paused before making his confession. "I found something in the Goblin tunnels."

"Found what?" The wizard questioned, narrowing his eyes in suspicion when Bilbo hesitated with his response. "What did you find?"

"My courage." Kara felt her body sag in disappointment and she looked away in disbelief. She had been sure the hobbits reply would have gone something along the lines of 'I found a magical ring that can turn me invisible' but then again she wasn't sure how he would have worded it.

"Good. Well, that's good. You'll need it." Gandalf replied, daring not to press but he knew there was something that he wasn't being told. "I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor." He continued, addressing everyone as he walked towards his pony. "Keep the map and key safe. Do not enter that mountain without me. This is not the Greenwood of old, the very air of the forest is heavy with illusion that will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray."

"Lead us astray? What does that mean?" Kara asked the wizard who mounted his pony and took hold of the reins.

"No matter what may come, stay on the path!" Came the response as he turned his horse and rode away.

She scoffed at the lame answer and looked expectantly at her uncle who began to walk towards the entrance to the forest.

"Come on, we must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day. Let's go, we've got but one chance to find the hidden door."

* * *

However, the moment they began walking they regretted it; it was like they were trapped inside a small closet with no escape, like everywhere they stepped something was going to dive out of the bushes and strangle them, like they were walking in constant circles with no sense of direction.

Kara drank a sip from her bottle and grimaced. It was old water for they hadn't really found any nice streams in this gloomy forest.

"Can I have your water?" She asked Kili.

"No." He answered.

She pouted. "Why?"

"You have a whole bottle of it, I literally have none left."

"Yours is nicer." She moaned. "I just tried mine; its old. You filled yours up before we came in here. Isn't the older sibling supposed to uphold the needs of the younger sibling?" She questioned innocently with wide, puppy eyes.

Kili laughed. "I don't fall for puppies."

She gasped. "Why?!"

"Because, Kara, the amount of times that I have done puppy eyes in my life is higher than every single dwarf in Ered Lurin combined."

She smiled sneakily and dived for his bag, knocking them both to the ground. They began to wrestle one another, rolling over each other in the dirt as they each tried to overpower one another. Kara knew she was losing, like she always did for he was much stronger than her, but she was putting up a surprisingly good fight and unhooked his bottle from his bag.

"No!" He yelled, yanking a knife from her boot as a compromise attempt.

"Oi! Kili, give that back!"

Bilbo stepped forward next to Fili. "Should I be worried?"

"No, they're always like this." The blonde answered with a fond smile.

Kili pinned her down, her knife still in his hand and she growled at him. The company surrounded the two, watching in amusement aside Thorin who was up ahead with Balin, marching back when he heard noise. Bilbo was still a little concerned and stepped forward to intervene when unexpectedly the two suddenly burst out laughing, Kara dropping the bottle and Kili dropping the knife.

"Shut up, both of you!" A familiar booming, angry sounding voice ordered. "Kili, get off your sister." The archer begrudgingly obeyed and lay back on his elbows, watching his uncle study the distance. Without looking at his nephew he held out his hand. "Give me your bow." He ordered, a bad feeling sinking into his stomach. There was something around them, watching them, but he didn't know what.

Kili sighed and dropped it into his uncle's hand who slung it over his shoulder as a hopeful form of better defence.

Kara smirked at her brother who glowered at her and continued to walk. "You are naughty, Kara." Fili mused as he ambled next to her.

"That was his fault." She accused.

"You always make him get the blame." Fili said. "He was always the one that got in trouble out of the three of us."

"That's how siblings work, isn't it?" Kara asked, raising her eyebrows at Fili who chuckled at his sister's antics. "The eldest sibling pretends he has no involvement and the youngest sibling is so amazing that the middle sibling gets the blame."

Kili spun around to his sister and narrowed his eyes at her as she laughed. "I'm joking, Kee. That was me."

"We could try and swim it." She heard this come from Bofur's mouth and she frowned, walking ahead to see what they were talking about. Two halves of a bridge were either side of a river and the middle of the crossing was missing. What bugged her the most was that the river looked like mist; it looked enchanting.

"Didn't you hear what Gandalf said? A dark magic lies upon this forest. The waters of this stream are enchanted." Thorin said.

"Doesn't look very enchanting to me." came the toymaker's slow response.

"How?" She asked. "It looks like cloud."

"Aye." He agreed. "I guess it's been so long that I can't remember what a cloud looks like."

She snorted and listened back to what her uncle was saying. "We must find another way across."

"These vines look strong enough." Kili offered from where her brothers stood, sussing out their uncle's entreaty.

"Kili." Thorin spoke up to stop the archer from standing on them. "We send the lightest first."

She found herself grinning as she turned to look at Bilbo who had an expression of 'of course you do' on his face but he upheld Thorin's request anyways and was soon reaching his foot over, terrified that he was about to go tumbling into an enchanted river.

"Looks fine." He told them. "I can't see any pro..." he didn't finish his sentence for he had fallen sideways over the thick vine and curled his trees around it to stop himself from falling. "There's one."

Kara stood on her tiptoes to see if it was alright. "Be careful!" she called. Once he made it to the end Thorin sent her and her companions followed straight after as Bilbo redeemed himself and spun around.

"Stay where you are! Oh..." He watched them cross with a sense of regret. Kara leant forward and fell, grabbing the vine above her to keep her balance. Bombur, however, could not keep his balance and fell forward asleep.

She groaned at him and jumped onto dry land, ready to help when they heaved the sleeping cook onto the land. Her uncle behind her caught her attention though and she watched him draw Kili's bow in wonder. The noise seemed to drop in that moment as Thorin made to shoot, Bilbo watching him from the corner of his eye with a sense of foreboding. He released the arrow and she finally saw what he was aiming at; the beautiful white stag that dodged the arrow and gracefully leapt away as though mocking him for his inability to kill.

"You shouldn't have done that." Bilbo told him. "It's bad luck."

"I don't believe in luck. We make our own luck." Thorin growled in response before stalking away. Kara watched him leave sadly and turned around to help her companions make a stretcher with they eventually did once they found the right materials. Fili and Kili were at the head, the ends resting on their shoulders as everyone else situated themselves behind to lend a hand, though Kara, Thorin and Bilbo were off the hook and she honestly wasn't complaining that she didn't have to help with the carrying.

* * *

By now they had been walking for what seemed like years. She yearned for fresh air; yearned to run around an open field and let her arms dance with the wind, but she knew that wasn't possible and wouldn't be anytime soon so she dared not dream. The girl nervously glanced beside her when she heard a small crack in the near distance and found herself running straight into Kili.

"Nori, why have we stopped?" Thorin demanded.

"The path, it's disappeared!" Was the startled answer and everyone froze, beginning to look around them. Sure enough, they had lost the damn path.

"Find it. All of you, look." Thorin ordered, breaking away from their formation of a line to do so himself.

"Look for the path!"

"I don't remember this place, none of it's familiar."

"It's got to be here."

"What hour is it?"

"I don't know. I don't even know what day it is."

"Is there no end to this accursed forest!"

The consistent complaining was really starting to bug Kara and she itched at her face with a trembling hand before sitting down miserably against a tree trunk. She noticed a massive spider web next to her and cocked her head in wonder, flicking it with her finger which caused the weirdest vibration through a bunch of other ones, placing a bag feeling in her stomach. She touched it again and the same thing happened. She frowned, hopping down to tell them of her strange discovery when she saw something even more attention-catching and bent down to pick it up.

"Look." She said as everyone turned to her.

Dori took the item from her. "A tobacco pouch." he whispered. "There's dwarves in these woods."

Bofur took it to see for himself. "Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, no less. This is exactly the same as mine."

"Because it is yours." Bilbo declared. "Do you understand? We're going around in circles, we are lost!"

"We are not lost." Thorin argued. "We keep heading east."

"But which way is east? We've lost the sun!"

The dwarves began to argue, one of their arguments where everyone was saying something over the top of one another so that the noise was enough to wake the entire forest, no doubt. The arguments that _really_ got under Kara's skin.

"Shut up!" She screamed, silencing them all. She was slightly surprised at herself and looked sheepishly at her feet as everyone turned to look at her in confusion, awaiting for her to speak. She then raised her chin defensively. "If we keep arguing over one another something is going to dive out of those bushes and slit our throats open. You heard what Gandalf said; this forest is unnatural. We need to find the sun if we want to know which direction we're going, meaning somebody has to climb one of these trees." When nobody said anything for a good twenty seconds she began to get annoyed. "Any volunteers?!"

"I will." Bilbo offered.

"Thank you, master Baggins." She said at last. "I'll come up with you."

The hobbit nodded and began himself to climb up. When she moved to follow, the relief of the silence evident on her relaxed shoulders, Thorin grabbed her arm. "Be careful." He warned, before smiling slightly. "You know, you're a lot like your mother. When she yells everybody listens."

Kara snickered knowingly, blushing slightly at the praise. "Thank you. I'll be fine." She assured him before reaching up to grab a branch and using the strength from her arms to tug herself upwards after the hobbit. When she could no longer see the company below her she felt extremely high and the tiniest bit of a scared feeling overcame her.

"Bilbo!" She called. "Are we nearly there?"

"I see the top!" He answered in delight. "I see sunlight through the cracks!"

"Thank mahal." She muttered to herself. The dwarf reached up to grab another piece of bark when a branch from above her snapped and fell with the weight of Bilbo, striking her with a glancing blow from chin to knee. Kara, without time for even a grunt, fell sideways a good ten feet before landing on her back on another very thick branch in a different tree. She shook her head and groaned, propping up onto her elbows only to look at the most terrifying thing she had seen in days.

A spider.

It was the most giant, disgusting thing she had ever seen in her life and it was hanging from some web above it, one half of its legs on the branch to propel it forwards towards her.

_So much for being careful._

Kara's eyes widened up at the spider and she crawled backwards, staring into its eyes as though it was a staring contest. It scurried after her but she had managed to draw her sword with hasty fingers by the time it leapt on top of her to sting her with poison and she stabbed it in the eye with her weapon. She listened to it screech in pain before dropping off of the side and down a large drop to the ground once its legs had curled up to show it was dead. She grimaced at the sight and ran along the branch to the actual tree where she wondered about how to get down.

Before she could come to that decision another spider leapt from a tree and she fell backwards, a bunch of webs breaking her fall until she hit the bottom, releasing a groan.

"Kara?" A voice asked and she sighed in relief, letting Fili help her to her feet. "You ok?"

"Aye. Where are the others?"

"Bilbo saved them from the spiders and they're battling. I came to look for you."

"Ok, let's go back." She said as Fili nodded and the two ran until they got stopped in their tracks by three more spiders advancing in a line towards them. "Fili..." She murmured as her brother drew his sword. The one on the left suddenly fell to the floor as an arrow downed it and she smiled in relief, running at one of them and slashed at it. Fili ducked under the other one and stabbed it's underneath until it fell sideways, dead.

Kara slashed off a leg so it was harder for the creature to balance and she was able to slice it's side relatively easy and eventually finish it off with a mere stomp.

"Are you guys ok?" Kili asked, running over to them as the two nodded.

"Yeah." Fili breathed. "Where are the others now?"

"Back there."

Another spider leapt out from behind the three, startling them for a moment.

"How many are there?" Kara exclaimed as she dove out of the way. All of a sudden she was tugged forward and stopped yelling as she felt as though her arm was yanked out of its socket. Her eyes snapped to her wrist and found that rope was wrapped tightly around it. She widened her eyes in terror and grabbed at it. "What the..." Suddenly a strong force hit the back of her head and she fell forward onto her side in a daze, interrupting her speaking and she felt the spider tower over her and jab a filthy sting into the back of her neck. She choked, some foamy puss falling onto the ground when she spat.

What she felt now was horrible; numbness made an unwelcome appearance and crept up her spine until she felt paralyzed and useless. She wondered why Fili and Kili weren't coming to her aid and dread filled her heart that she could be stuck feeling like this for ever.

The thought made her puffy eyes jolt open though she couldn't move the rest of her body. They were squinting, her vision blurry but she caught sight of Fili who lay on the floor, reaching at his foot where the same rope appeared to be wrapped around his ankle, having made him fall onto his back and knock the air out of his lungs. Kili stood behind, watching in horror until he felt an arm wrap around his mouth forcefully. He released a muffled scream, stamping his foot onto the figure's own who released him with a grunt of pain. He kicked his foot backwards into the shin of whoever was attacking him and the person fell backwards onto the ground, he along with them.

Kara recognized the figure the moment she saw the familiar blue eye mask that she had seen in the stinking troll caves.

"Fili..." She mumbled when her eyes flickered to her blonde brother who got jabbed in the arm by a spider's sting and he felt himself gag and fall backwards into darkness.

Kili managed to wrestle on top of his attacker and yank off the mask. He stared in horror at his own face and the figure took that opportunity to kick out and knock him backwards onto the ground before a swift kick to the face sent him rolling into the same place as his brother. Another figure tore out of the bushes and stabbed at the spider with a knife as though this was something they did everyday. That was all Kara could see until the effect of the poison overcame her young body which sagged with the weight of fighting for consciousness and she could see no more.

* * *

**Yayyy, this took me weirdly long and honestly I don't know why.**

**The trio are in for a treat...especially Kara! The company are a little busy with a couple of our favourite elves in a different location in case you are wondering where the hell they are.**

**I am definitely going to go back and edit all of the earlier chapters this week (including this one, not a lot but it was a little rushed) and then post the next chapter at the end of this week, so keep an eye out for that.**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	13. Welcome Home

**Hello! Sorry about the long wait my computer broke and I legit couldn't do anything for like a week, and then I went back to edit all of the earlier chapters so people who have read until here go back and re-read, probably before reading this one because I changed a few things. I won't change it again I promise!**

**Enjoyyyy :)**

* * *

Kara stirred from inside her bed and cracked her eyes open. She frowned when she looked above her at the familiar turquoise wallpaper that lined her bedroom and glimpsed the stars on her ceiling. She pushed over the sheets, observing her outfit in horror. Her old clothes were nowhere to be seen and were replaced with a bright orange jumpsuit with a black number embedded in the top right corner. She slid out of the bed in a panic and looked to where the whiteboard used to be on her wall. The words 'welcome home' were underlined in red but otherwise that it was exactly how she had left it when she departed for the quest, her familiar doodles all around the outside.

She ran over to her bedroom door, throwing her hand on the handle and she began to jiggle it up and down as she pushed on the door. "Mum?" She called. "Mum!" Her yells arose and she broke away when she received no answer and ran over to the pink telephone on her bedside table. She lifted it to her ear and found it was fake and plastic. She threw it on the bed and ran back over to the door. "Hello?" She pleaded. "Can anybody hear me? Hello?!"

Fili looked away from his reflection in his mirror and towards the camera in the corner of his room. A part of it was shining red as though someone was watching him, creating an unsettling feeling in his stomach. There had been plastic cameras before, but that was it in his home. This one looked to be of worryingly high quality. He looked around at only half of his bedroom, his half as him and Kili had agreed, and frowned in absolute confusion. "Kili?" His calling grew in volume and he began to panic when he received no answer. "Kara? Thorin?" He called desperately, spinning around the room. "Is anybody here?!"

Kili observed the photo frame in his hand with a knitted brow, the one of him and his siblings that had always been on his bedside table before dropping it back down again with his other hand raised defensively. "What the..." He muttered as he turned away and ran over to his windowsill where books were balanced. He picked them up, feeling them to be cardboard with holes in the bottom. Everything was fake. In a panic he ran over to his and Fili's wardrobe and swung it open, only to lay eyes on a freezing, stone wall.

Kara carefully grabbed the chair from under her desk and flung it towards the window, succeeding in smashing it and so she rushed over and peered out. Stone was the only thing that she could see behind the window. She fell backwards and landed on the floor on her backside, eyes snapping to the camera in the corner of the room when a computerised voice, that of a girl, met her ears.

"Welcome."

The sound of a door unlocking made her head snap up, the slightest bit of hope sparking inside her and she rushed over. The girl swung it open and found herself staring at another door. She frowned, leaning forward and tilting her head to look down a long corridor of many doors; the place was awfully familiar, but it couldn't be there...she was in Mirkwood, for mahal's sake!

The door in front of her suddenly opened and Fili exited, looking awfully confused and he also wore the same disgusting outfit that she currently did. "Kara?" He questioned in relief as she ran a few steps and embraced him. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." She whispered. "You?"

Fili inhaled nervously. "Aye." he looked down the corridor. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. It looks kinda like the place I lived in when I was five, remember?"

"It does?" Fili suddenly asked, dread filling his heart. "You don't think..."

His question was interrupted when another door opened, the one right at the end yet still next to them as their doors were the two last ones there. Kili exited slowly, staring at them as though they were just visions before blinking. "Thank mahal, I thought I was alone."

"Are you ok?" Fili asked.

"Not really."

"Please follow the lighted pathway." The voice came again and the trio looked up, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

"No." Kara answered, glaring at the ceiling.

"Please follow the lighted pathway."

"I said no." She repeated more firmly.

"Please follow the lighted pathway."

"We should throw a knife somewhere and see what happens." Kili whispered after a snort of amusement.

"Good idea." Kara agreed as she began to search her clothes.

"I was joking." The archer hissed.

"Guys I have no weapons." She said urgently.

"Neither do I." Fili spoke up. "No, come on guys we should see what's down there."

"I don't want to!" Kara exclaimed before looking up in alarm as a shiver jolted up her spine. "Where are the others? The spiders came and then..." She snapped her fingers and drooped her eyes to the floor. "Someone grabbed me by the arm."

"Someone grabbed me by the leg."

"Someone grabbed me by the mouth."

Fili sighed and tugged on Kara's arm, beginning to drag her down the hallway as Kili trailed behind. As she proceeded to amble, wishing she had a torch in hand at that moment, she began to feel a sort of nausea creeping into her stomach. It was the fact that she had so many questions but still none to be answered. She was beginning to feel a bit of anticipation, the feeling that something was about to happen but she didn't know where or how or even what would take place.

After they had wandered for a bit they halted outside one of the many doors that lined the hall. They had tried many of them - most of them locked aside one but it was just an empty stone room - but this one was right at the end.

"Do we?" Fili asked as his siblings slowly nodded. He pushed down the handle and leant his body weight forward slightly to creak it open. The three huddled into one another as though expecting some shocking reveal but nothing happened. It was just an eerie silence aside from their slow footsteps as they entered the pitch black room until the lights flickered on above them.

Kara could feel her hands shaking from nerves as she peered up at the ceiling, clinging onto Fili's sleeve and unintentionally the ends of Kili's hair but in that moment he honestly didn't care.

"Please go to your assigned stations."

They looked up the top, up a step there was a stage area with three...she didn't even know what. They looked like lecterns but the flat area was facing them and held no paper, instead held a word each in bright letters that looked like spray paint. Each one also had one red button.

The one on the left had the word Bishie in bright turquoise letters, the one on the right held the word Blondie in green and the one in the middle had the word Babbly in red letters.

"Bishie?" Kili asked, unimpressed. "Original."

"Stand behind your posts." This time the voice wasn't from some shady computer, and instead from the mouth of somebody who was awfully familiar when Kara turned around.

"Flux?" She asked in horror. "So this place is to do with Naomi?!"

"Stand behind your posts." He repeated, not moving his eyes from the front of the room.

"No." She hissed.

"Kara, don't fight him." Fili whispered shakily. "Lets just do it."

"We can't just give in!" She exclaimed.

"Do you want to get out of here?!"

She sighed in defeat, moving to stand behind the middle one and placed her hands on it, watching Kili slowly walk up to stand beside her on his one.

"Here are the rules." Flux began with a devilish smile. "I will ask each of you a series of questions, get them right and you win 100 points, get them wrong you don't get any points and you get a doink!"

"What the hell is a doink?" Kili asked with a frown. This is _not_ what he expected when he agreed the quest.

"Wait and see." was the sharp response. "Make it to 2000 points in thirty questions or less then you get nice food and drink, get over your limit and its rice and water. This marks your meals for the next few weeks."

"Few _weeks_?" Kara asked in shock. "We need to leave today! The others might be in trouble."

"If you want to get out you have to do what it says." Flux hissed. "Alright, first question is for Fili. How many pounds of meat does a wolf need to reproduce?"

Fili laced his brow cluelessly. "I dunno."

"Wrong!" Came the loud yell as the buzzer on Fili's table sounded. "That means Fili gets a doink!"

Out of nowhere, before Fili could even grunt, a shot of pus got squirted on his face and he scrunched up his face in disgust. Kara and Kili opened their mouths in shock as the blast ended and Fili choked for a second.

"What the hell was that?"

"Pus." Fili shook his head to shake away the disgusting liquid, fiddling with a strand of hair with a grimace.

"Kili!" Flux greeted, turning to the archer who gulped. "How many years ago was the battle of azanulbizar?"

The brunette leaned over the table on his elbows. "I'll pass."

"You can't pass."

"Pass."

"Not an option."

"I don't like this question."

"You're only making it worse."

"The answer is..." Kili racked his brain for thoughts. "Who cares?"

The buzzer sounded and vibrated. "Wrong!" Flux yelled in delight as Kili held out his hands to avoid his face being hit by the pus. "That means Kili gets a doink!"

"Not in my face." Kili hissed before startling as a figure with a black hood up and a mask to hide every facial feature there could possibly be grabbed his shoulders and lead him away from the stall and to where Flux was standing, handing the man a long stick with a ball attached to the end.. "Ok." He squeaked in confusion, eyeing the item in horror as the figure disappeared to an unknown location. Kili eyed it in horror. "Is that a bowling ball?!"

"Mhm." Came the blunt reply before Flux used all of the arm power that he could muster to drive the ball into Kili's stomach who fell forwards onto the floor, clutching it with folded arms as Fili and Kara widened their eyes and clamped their hands over their mouths.

"Next question!"

"I'ma need a minute." Kili groaned as he stood on shaky legs and fell over to his table, leaning forward as he sucked his gum to hide the pain.

"Kara!"

She blinked and stared at him, smiling in terror. "Yes?"

"How many orcs _attacked_ in the battle of azanulbizar?"

Kara blinked at him disbelievingly. "I don't know, who would know that?!"

"Wrong!" Came the joyous voice as her buzzer was too set off.

"No, can't we just skip my...ah!" She screamed as something hard shot out of her table and punched her under the chin, knocking her back forcefully. "I'm a girl! This is...ah!" It happened again and she clutched her nose in pain as Flux laughed at her.

"Looks like you got double-doinked!"

She furrowed her brow and stared at the ground as Fili and Kili stared at her in concern and shock at the same time.

"Back to Fili!" Said blonde grimaced at his name and readied himself for the pain that was most likely about to come.

"What is another name for an oliphant?"

"Oh its the mumak..." Before he could finish the sentence the ceiling area above him opened like a trapdoor and a bunch of bolts rained out, hitting his head consistently as he stepped back, startled.

"He didn't even answer the question!" Kara exclaimed.

"Why'd you drop all those on his head?" Kili asked.

"In this place sometimes things go wrong." Flux admitted with a shrug. "I'll give you a hundred points and pretend this never happened! Now Kili!" The archer wanted to cry. "What is the only number that is prime, square, a factor of 300, odd _and_ even?"

Kili squinted his eyes in confusion and raised an eyebrow, staring at Flux blankly. "Huh?"

"I said what is the only number that is prime, square, a factor of 300, odd and even?"

"Um." Kili waved his hand, not even sure if there was such number. "Eighty...point three?"

"Wrong!"

They were used to the dreaded noise the red buttons made by now. "Dang it." Kili muttered, dropping his head to the floor before looking up sharply. "No, do _not_ doink me!"

However, he heard the trapdoor open and knew that wasn't an option, so he threw his hands above his head in defence for whatever was about to be dropped on him when he suddenly heard his sister squealing as she felt a bunch of objects dropped on her hair like what had happened to Fili. The glass from some of them shattered and smashed when they made contact with the floor.

"What was that?!"

"That was a load of hand mirrors." Flux answered with a laugh.

Kara growled and picked one up. "I know what they were."

"Why'd you drop them on her, Kili got the answer wrong?" The blonde spoke up from next to them, watching the scene in trepidation.

"Good point. More mirrors!"

"What are yer...ah!" Kili made the noise as what had happened to his sister not moments earlier happened to him as well.

Fili's brow furrowed in alarm. "Ok, that's actually _dangerous!_ "

"Yeah, why don't you just drop a wall mirror on his head?" Kara exclaimed sarcastically.

"Wall mirror!"

"Oh!" Kili shrieked as one actually fell from above and smacked him hard on the brain, knocking him to the floor before the glass shattered everywhere as Kara jumped back with a squeal and Fili's hand drew to his mouth. Kili's hands gripped his table and he yanked himself up, glowering at Flux who smiled innocently. "Ow!"

* * *

By the end of the game, Kara realised that this was a disguised way to torture them because she had actual burns on her skin from boiling water, along with cuts and bruises from various items. Fili's face and hair were practically black from smoke and Kili had visible cuts all over his face from mostly glass.

"Uh oh, you lost." Flux declared, mockingly pouting. "Rice and water it is for you."

"Please, return to your rooms and find your surprises."

"I've seen enough, Naomi!" Kara yelled to the ceiling. "I know it's you!"

"Please, return to your rooms and find your surprises." When none of the trio made to move the buzzers on their tables sounded loudly, flashing red as ear rape actually emitted from them and they moaned, clutching their ears from genuine pain. After about thirty seconds it ended, mocking them with its silence.

Before she could speak Flux ran over and tutted at them. "Do it."

"Why should we?" Kara snapped.

"If you don't it will drug you. It will do this over and over again until you do."

"No, you're lying!" Fili hissed. "There's got to be a way out!" He began to flicker his eyes in many different directions, looking for any source of light that could be shining out of an opening until the sound came again. The light began to flicker until it was pitch black in the room apart and completely dead apart from the constant wailing of the siren and the trio screaming at one another, hands gripping their ears tightly until once again there were no moving shadows in their line of vision, only darkness.

* * *

Thorin Oakenshield sat stock still in his cell, bored of listening to the stories that fell from Bofur's mouth at an attempt to lighten the mood. He was irritated; irritated with Thranduil for his unreasonableness, irritated with Balin for the consistent complaining about how Thorin should have taken the deal, irritated that their hobbit - or any rescue, for that matter - had yet to show up but mainly, he was irritated that he had lost Fili, Kili _and_ Kara, and he had absolutely no idea where they were.

Supposing they were all together somewhere in the forest, had they been attacked by the spiders? That was the only other explanation for he knew with elves and their heightened senses they would have sniffed the trio out, found them and brought them here. But he didn't want to believe that the first option had taken place because that simply meant they were dead.

And he couldn't deal with that.

"Thorin?" The exiled king looked up miserabelly when he heard his name, frowning when he saw nobody in front of the bars that caged him like an animal. "Thorin?"

"Bilbo?" Thorin whispered, crawling to the front of the bars to see the hobbit with his own eyes who suddenly, out of nowhere, appeared in front of him. "Where in mahal's name did you come from?"

"Long story." The hobbit sighed. "I needed to tell you that I was here, but I have yet to figure out a way to help you all escape."

"Well hurry up." Thorin grumbled, clearly not in a good mood. "I am desperate to leave this confounded place."

"I'm trying." Bilbo assured. "It's like a labyrinth in here."

Thorin seized this opportunity to question the deepest worry that laced his stomach. "Bilbo, you haven't seen Kara have you? Or Fili and Kili? I fear they were not with us when we got captured and nor have I seen them since."

Bilbo silently berated himself. He had noticed they were missing but in all the chaos and searching, he had completely forgotten to do uphold the mental reminder to search for them. "I will keep an eye out for them." He finally said. "Fili will look after them, though. I presume they are all together."

This didn't make Thorin feel any less uneasy, but there was nothing to do aside nod. "Find a way to get us out of here. And if you see any of them, I want to hear straight away."

Bilbo nodded, slipping the ring back on his finger when he was out of view of the exiled king and sighed as he realised he was faced with a new problem. He should probably find the trio who always seemed to attract trouble before helping the others escape, or they ran the risk of leaving important kin behind.

* * *

Kara stirred slowly, feeling as though she were lying on something rock hard. She cracked open her eyelids and stared at the ceiling. It was painfully unfamiliar. She sat upright and looked to her right; her brothers both lay on their backs with their eyes closed on the same table that she was lying on. She reached forward and the moment her hand made contact with Kili's arm his eyes flew open and he gasped. "Is this a hospital?" He asked as he attempted to sit up.

Fili stirred and looked around too. "It looks more like a morgue."

Kili sat up and rubbed his eyelids. "I feel like someone is ripping out my brain through my eye sockets."

Fili threw up the duvet before falling back onto the pillow in relief. "Thank mahal. I thought for a second someone had harvested our organs."

"Fili, we'd be dead." Kili observed as he looked at his brother.

"You only need one kidney."

"Sweetie, you ok?"

"No." She answered bluntly. "I'm not ok." She stood up angrily before storming towards a camera in the corner of the room which flashed red and glared at it. "If you are who I think you are come out instead of hiding behind whatever that even is."

"Coward." Fili spat in addition.

"You're not gonna win this. You'll fail again."

"We'll get out." Fili assured.

"There's three of us and one of him, her, it, bitch!" Kili hissed before the voice startled them again.

"Please, return to your rooms and find your surprises."

"Maybe we should just go." Kara whispered. "I don't have the energy to have this happen to us again."

The door being wide open mocked them, but they took the route anyway. They clung onto one another as though their lives depended on it as they slowly edged down the corridor, breaking away when they made it to the end of the corridor.

"We can do this." Fili whispered. "Don't anger it. Thorin will come soon, I know he will."

Kara nodded, feeling an emotion of untruth at that statement for an unknown reason. "Ok."

She inhaled nervously but stepped inside, Fili copying her. Kili watched them with a sense of terror but hardened his features and entered his own room. The moment the three doors slammed shut in unison they regretted entering.

Screams began, blood was spilled and sibling bonds were attempted to be broken.

* * *

**Hmmm that last line will be elaborated on. What do you think happens to them?**

**Also my friend wrote this chapter and when I read it through the game bit made me laugh so I left it in.**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	14. Recovery And A Couple Of Barrels

Kara lay against the cold, stone wall, wondering about her wounds. Bruised flesh was inches in diameter all up her arms, with a swollen and bloody scar where the rod had struck many a time. Her hair was full of grime and dirt that looked like the tendrils of a dang creeper; if she took a strand and twirled it through her fingers it looked more brown than red now.

The afternoon died away and sunlight crept through the trees where it could, but in all honesty she got a glimpse of it about twice a day, she found. The death of one of her brothers hung in the air around her like vapour - unmistakable vapour that made any food that got thrown down her way end up on the ground to rot, or broken up into tiny particles as her terrified yet numb fingers yearned to rip something to shreds. This meant every five seconds she could generally hear the sound of her stomach grumbling. She barely had the energy to swallow anymore from the lack of drink her throat had obtained.

She could also feel her face tear-stained but didn't have the energy to reach up and wipe them off.

She wasn't sure what was worse; being up there with Flux receiving torture or being down here, alone, constantly thinking about Fili and Kili. She had no idea which one she had been forced to...she couldn't even think of the word. She had absolutely no idea what had happened to them either.

Well, she knew the fate of one of them but decided that thinking about it wasn't worth her time.

But what else was there to do?

 _Two days._ Two long, drooling days that never seemed to come to an end. Even being outside she had no idea when to sleep and when she attempted to she couldn't. Her mind would drift to some unforgettable memory that taunted her mind, mocking her of what she'd done and what she'd become.

However, considering that she hadn't slept for over forty eight hours she could hold it back no longer and found her head flopping to the floor, body messily sprawling out in the small circle at the bottom of the hole as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut in anguish. A nightmare filled sleep engulfed her.

_The first five days that Kara had spent inside the place had been pretty much identical in events and she was used to the routine. She realised on the fifth day that if Naomi made an exact replica of her bedroom then she had a hockey stick under her bed, and so she found herself fumbling underneath it and screaming in triumph when she actually found one. The girl didn't think it would actually be there for she had a table of knives in her bedroom back home and the table was in there but no knives, showing the torturers seemed to have taken away any weapons. She had never had time to even think about escaping or anything really; she was busy feeling torture, doing the most gruesome jobs possible, choosing which sibling should receive the shock or sleeping. If she didn't sleep when she was told to the alarm would go off, blaring from nowhere and her ears would ache by the end of it. This happened for any task. It would sound repeatedly until she did what was asked of her._

_Naomi was too cowardly to say anything and face her. Instead she spent her time watching the girl suspiciously through the cameras to see if she was abiding to her tasks and how well she was handling the torture. In lieu of herself she sent Flux piling into the room to offer what she wished to give; pain. Anguish. Every night he would come in with the dreaded rod for a session of what Kara thought was completely pointless torture, where he would dig the one end of the rod that was always hot into her skin. He usually went for the neck. It was terror._

_But this time she was ready._

_The moment he entered her stick struck him on the back of the head and he crumbled to the floor, the rod falling out of his gloved hands for a moment. Kara's foot landed on his neck as she fumbled to yank the gloves off of his hands and onto her own which after a few struggles she succeeded in doing. The dwarf was afraid to hold the weapon, even though she knew a part of it was not sizzling with heat._

_Kara, with a sense of delirious abandonment for the civilisation that had always kept her in place and as the drastic need to suss out the happenings took ahold of her, found herself leaning all of her weight on the rod so that it dug into his arm. Hard._

_"I'm sorry!" He yelled at her, waving his hands around in a vain attempt to knock her off. "I'm sorry!"_

_"Doesn't feel so good, does it?" She hissed, pressing it further into his arm. "I can't wait to watch your skin burn to the core, or you can tell me why the hell we're down here and where the hell my uncle and the rest of them are. I'm fine with either way."_

_She cringed at the sound that this torture was making._

_And how much she sounded like an orc mocking people._

_"Listen! I can explain, just get off!" She narrowed her eyes, green orbs boring into blue ones until she finally let go, letting the rod clatter to the floor out of her numb fingers that uncurled limpy from around the item. Flux splattered his dark fringe away from his sweaty forehead as he panted, leaning against the wall to regain a large amount of much needed oxygen whilst Kara watched him with her arms crossed, an unimpressed scowl plastered on her usually beaming countenance._

_A tiny part of her, in that moment, yearned to see him on his feet without blood spilling from his arm at the fault of her own hands._

No _, she told herself._ He deserves it.

_Flux coughed, regaining his posture though his hand didn't move from where it clutched his injured arm and his panting slowed to small, pain-filled wheezes._

_"Just let me explain!" He spoke loudly, lengthening out each syllable to prove his desperation for her to clamp her lips shut and not say a word. "Please." She nodded after a moment of hesitation and he sighed. "We saw that you were coming on the quest..."_

_"Whose we?" She immediately demanded as he rolled his eyes._

_"Naomi and a couple of others. She made this place in readiness to capture you one day!"_

_Kara picked up her means of defence and held it up before scoffing. "I knew it. Who else is here with you?"_

_"You know you'd be a lot more threatening if I wasn't seeing two of yer right now.." He murmured in a daze before screaming as his skin was sizzled again._

_"Who else?"_

_"Blitz! Blitz." He calmed himself and stared her straight in the eyes, wondering why Naomi wasn't coming in to save him when surely she was watching this conversation through the cameras._

_"Whose Blitz?" She asked with a frown as she let the rod hover a little bit away from his neck which he craned in slight terror. She wanted to mock him, but found this experience of being the bad person un enjoyable. It seemed to give goblins and orcs satisfaction, but not her. She couldn't believe her position; she was supposed to be a naive fifteen year old and in all honesty she wished she still was._

_"The jester! The one from all those years ago...the one that_ may _have poisoned you and given you a stomach ulcer..."_

_"Why?" She hissed._

_"Because it said so. It wanted us to capture you because you are a bad person - you released all of the toys. It wanted Fili because he destroyed the cloning device. You messed up all of our plans and now it wants your blood to power the phoenix stone whilst we want revenge. It's good teamwork, if you ask me. Us and orcs."_

_"Where is my uncle?"_

_"I don't know."_

_"Tell me!" She was almost yelling now as she raised the rod threateningly, not about to thrust it back down again because she couldn't bare the thought of it anymore but someone else seemed to think she would and ran into the room, knocking her to the side. The rod rolled out of her hands and clattered onto the floor a couple of meters from her. She looked up wearily to the jester whom she had only seen years ago when she had got captured by slave mongers. He hadn't exactly been responsible for her being taken that day, he had just been_ there. _Like he was_ here. _He seemed to be everywhere, if she was honest. The rainbow hair was a real trait that no other wore unless they were off their trolley so she supposed it was always him that she thought she saw, especially since he always covered up his eyes with a mask like the ones she used to have to wear in a masquerade ball._

_"Why you always gotta ruin everything?" He whined as Flux lent heavily against the wall, breathing rapidly._

_She jumped up onto her legs and rounded on him. He cocked his head at her._

_"Will you not remove the disguise?"_

_He shrugged. "Sure. Fluxy Boo just told you practically everything anyways." She was shocked at this response and watched in trepidation as he reached an arm up and yanked off his hair, which Kara had no idea was a wig but it was, and dark locks spilled over his shoulders. He yanked the mask over these dark locks and cocked his head again, grinning at her horrified face._

_He was the_ spitting image _of Kili._

_"Would this be an appropriate time to mention that the cloning device worked...?" Flux wheezed from the corner as she snapped her eyes to his._

_"What?!" She exclaimed as she sank to the floor in dismay, beginning to mutter to herself. "Why is all of this happening?! Why? One simple question! This is my life now! Mahal, five days ago I was sat in the middle of a forest eating stew!"_

_"One time I was eating stew in a restaurant and I started laughing but then I started choking so the lady who ran the restaurant made me leave." Kara moved her head up so she could look at the jester and found herself raising an eyebrow. "She's dead now." The princess's mouth dropped open and she gaped at him as he glanced down to Flux. "Shall we leave her in here?"_

_"Duh." The man answered as he stood on shaky legs. "She's killed my arm, Naomi isn't going to be very happy. Torturers get punished."_

_"Whatever." Kara hissed. "Just leave my brothers alone."_

_"Oh right yeah, too late." Blitz said with a false meek shrug of the shoulders. "Lets go. I wanna see if Kili dyed his hair."_

_"What?!" Kara demanded as she widened her eyes once again at them._

_He tilted his head and laughed awkwardly, picking the wig and mask back off the floor to shove back on before slipping out the door, Flux on his tail, still panting. She was grateful that he had a disguise, if she was honest. Two Kili's. She scoffed at the thought, already planning a murder of the clone in her head. The world was not ready._

The nightmare of an event that had only occurred a few days back which did indeed result in Naomi not letting the deed go unpunished came to an abrupt halt when her closed eyelids found themselves blinded by an unnatural bright light directed towards them. Noises of weapons, footsteps and voices danced into play as she awoke from her slumber. When she realised that multiple people were up there at the top of the hole she bolted upright, eyes snapping in that direction.

She could make out a figure with her cloudy eyes who stared down at her, flashlight in hand which was directed right at her, hence why she had woken up and what caused the natural response of attempting to block the blindness by moving your arm to shield your eyes.

"Hold the rope, dwarf!" Came the voice of a male above many other frantic voices and then this item was lowered in front of her. She took hold of it, expressionless, with two weak, battered hands and allowed herself to be pulled up until she rolled out of the top and onto the grass where she savoured the feeling of a different terrain.

Elves were rushing around the area, attempting to get into the underground place that she had been trapped in before she got moved outside to the hole. She wondered if they had tracked the trio here. "You are going to need to come with us. Don't make us force you."

The elf had long, brown hair and piercing blue eyes. "Wait." She ordered, gripping his arm to pull herself up as he eyed her skeptically. "My brother might be in there. I don't know which one, but..." At the clanking of metal she looked over to see Flux with a sword in his hand, ready to fight some random elf who eyed him wearily.

All of a sudden Blitz was beside her, swatting away the elf with frantic hands. Kara scoffed and turned the other way; she couldn't even bare to look at him. "She is staying here! Why you always gotta mess things up?" Came the familiar yet ever so irritating whiny voice.

"Blitz, tell me now which one is dead!"

The dwarf turned to her and frowned. "Huh?"

"Which one is dead." She repeated firmly, not in the mood for any messing around.

"Is...is that a serious question? Are you messin' with me Kara?"

The girl frowned. "No..."

"Cuz I seriously feel like your messin with me." His voice had gone dangerously low and she didn't like it.

"I'm asking you a question."

"Geez Kara!" he screeched.

"Your making no sense..."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

She rolled her eyes and turned around to see what the elves were doing. They had managed to break down two large wooden doors hidden by thousands of ivy strands which revealed a large, dark entrance.

"Were you trapped too?" The elf asked Blitz.

"No!" He exclaimed, bringing a hurt hand to his heart.

"You made this." he realised. "Come with us." He reached forward to grab the being who skittered back like a scared little bunny.

"Fluxy Boo we're going!"

Flux glanced over and nodded before his legs began to move. He grabbed Blitz by the hand and the two began to sprint. "Get them then!" she hissed to three elves who were stood there not doing anything. They sprung into action and grabbed the eight elves who had been knocking down the door. As though they had been waiting for this moment for some time they were in the trees in an instant, bouncing through them gracefully to catch the two criminals.

Kara watched them wearily, knowing there was no way that the two would escape with elves on their tails. She then observed her surroundings; three elves knelt by the hole, doing what she had no idea, and about four of their kin were spread around the area like they were watching out for enemies.

She wondered where they were planning on taking her.

Kara slowly ambled to the side until she was close enough to the entrance that she could dart inside. She bent down and slowly and unnoticeably picked up a flashlight from the ground. She heard yells behind her the moment she had made the sudden movement to run. They were yelling 'stop her!' or 'catch her!' but she didn't care, pumping extra power through her legs as she urged them on whilst yelling for her brothers. Whichever one was alive, they would answer. She also then wondered how Naomi was going to escape, and where she was.

If she was in here surely she'd make a confrontation now.

* * *

Fili was almost tired of the consistent pacing that he was doing up and down the small space that he was trapped in. It was a freezer. This he had figured out from the giant glass door in front of him, the vents to let cold air in and by the controls next to the door. He was stuck in though, so all he found he could do was stress, worry, and keep on pacing.

After about ten minutes he heard the sound of two figures talking; one was grunting and begging and the other was hassling and commanding. The door flew open and a girl in dark clothes, face hidden behind a hood although he could make out some of her facial features, tossed another person carelessly onto the floor in front of him before slamming the door shut and pressing some buttons. "What are you doing?" Fili exclaimed to the person who he had made out to be Naomi. "Let us out!"

"They're here." She whispered, eyes wide in terror. "They found me. I'm leaving. Say goodbye to your pathetic lives."

Fili was tempted to throw a mouthful of curses in her face, crack her fingers and smash her head against a hard stone wall but he supposed these dreams were out of the question for she was gone and he was stuck. The blonde concentrated on other problems and rushed forward, yanking his brother up who swayed in a daze. He could have screamed in relief that he was alive, for he hadn't laid eyes on Kili in around a week. "Are you ok?!"

"I think so." Fili held his brother at arms length and his mouth dropped open. The archer's hair was cut in the most awkward way possible at a messy shoulder length, some strands longer and some shorter, with random streaks of red woven throughout it. There was also no longer any trace of a stubble along his jawline. Fili wanted to be sick. Kili noticed his change in demeanor and scoffed, looking the other way. "Don't even..."

"Who did this, I swear they will pay big...?!"

"I don't know! It happened when I was asleep. Where's Kara?"

Fili knew the subject was immediately being changed and sighed. Thorin was going to disown the no longer brunette. Dwarven hair had and always would be the centre of their pride. "I haven't seen her."

Before Kili could answer a loud, rumbling sound emitted from out of nowhere and white smoke began to squirt out of long rectangle holes in the bottom of the wall. Fili ran to the door and began to attempt to push it open once again but to no avail as Kili crept towards it and put his hand in the smoke. "Fili, what the hell, this is really cold!" he exclaimed as Fili spun around in a panic.

"It's liquid nitrogen!"

"What does that mean?!"

"It means that the temperature is going to drop below zero and if we don't get out of here soon..." he came to the realisation that they were going to die in the most horrible way. After everything they'd been through in the past week this was just plain annoying. "We're gonna freeze to death."

Both dwarves stared at each other in horror until much more of the freezing hair spurred from smaller holes surrounding them, the room filling with cold, and blew their hair around as they began to scream.

"What do we do? Fili what do we do?!" Kili yelled in panic as Fili ran over to the glass door and began to smack it, yelling for help at the top of his lungs.

Kara spurred around the corner, flashlight in hand, towards the direction of where she heard screaming. She paused in front of a room next to her 'bedroom' where the sounds of distress seemed to be coming from and she entered hastily. It was unlocked, surprisingly, as though somebody had carelessly fled from there. The place was pitch black except for a glow in the distance which she immediately sprinted towards and looked inside whatever it was.

The princess found herself staring in shock at the two figures smacking the glass, voices echoey and muffled but she could tell what her brothers were screaming.

"Kara! Kara please!"

She hastened over to the controls, unsure how in mahal's name to turn off the deadly contraption. She fiddled around and when nothing seemed to work she began to panic even more, shooting her eyes over to the temperature circle. It was dropping worryingly fast and the ticking hand was nearly below zero. She whipped her eyes around the room and when a wrench conveniently lying on the floor caught her eye she took it in her hands. The girl then began to smash the switchboard with as much force as possible which exploded after about three hits but sparks flew out from the explosion and shocked her, knocking her back and onto the floor.

When she peered up through her messy bangs and saw that the door was still shut she could have cried. Her eyes squinted as she tried to make out what the two were doing; they had no more energy to scream now and both had sagged against the glass to the floor, muffled whimpers now escaping both of their lips. She crawled forward, watching the glass freeze over and Kili's face disappear behind it which she had been staring at as though it would somehow help him escape. She noticed Fili had practically collapsed to lying on the floor and she clamped two hands over her mouth as she knew that he was dying.

This was how they were going to die.

For the briefest of moments she had been startled to learn that both were alive, startled to know that she had fallen for Naomi's sick trick, startled to see the state of Kili's hair but snapped out of her depressed gaze when she noticed cold air shooting from the valve. With a renewed wave of determination she grabbed the wrench back off of the dank floor and began to smack it, using every ounce of strength that she could possibly muster. It only took two hits this time for the little wheel on top of it to fall off and the air shot out in bigger chunks, allowing the two doors to fall open and her brothers in turn to crawl out of them and crumble to the floor in a sprawled mess.

* * *

The trio had been taken by the elves into a kingdom. Kara barely had the energy to keep her eyelids open but for the sake of Fili and Kili, who had both been unconscious for the whole travel, she forced herself to stay awake. When they had arrived at Mirkwood all three had been taken to their healing rooms and she was grateful for the bandages that now sat around her neck where most of the burns had happened. She had managed to eat some bread for the hunger constantly swirling around her gut had been giving her a headache and even though it felt selfish, she had crammed the food down her throat before swallowing some water as though she had never seen either before.

The elves didn't seem as friendly as the ones in Rivendell and patched her up as best they could, but they did it with grunts and whines instead of support, acting like it was a chore more than a good deed. Fili and Kili had been frozen to the touch until they had finally lain in front of fire for what felt like hours as the elves tried to heal their injuries.

Kili had awoken first, however, insisting that he was fine and that they should see to Fili. Because he was able to stand the elves decided they believed him and offered all help to the blonde who opened his eyes around twenty minutes after his brother. The nasty looking burns that Kara had got to see all up his arms had been wrapped, as well as both battered hands. They had used some form of healing spell for those and Kara noticed that they appeared a lot better than they had been.

They were led into another room where a bath full of water was placed, presumably to wash off the marks on their faces.

_Oh the marks._

_That's what brought Kara the most shame._

Fili and Kili both wore the same muck that she did which she had tried to wash off her skin on many occasions during the time she was trapped in there, but it hadn't come off and she had had no access to hot water. The first day they were in there Flux had rubbed the gunk on her face and presumably Fili and Kili's too, claiming that it was his way of disguising himself and they should do the same for Thorin was hardly going to accept them after this.

Kara didn't let it get to her though because she knew he couldn't be more wrong.

Flux and Blitz had both been caught and she had seen them, unconscious and being dragged along the floor carelessly as though they were orc corpses. She had seen them get taken down a set of many stairs to one large cell and thrown inside, the door slammed in their faces.

She was grateful for this.

Tauriel, an elleth beautiful of face with long, pristine auburn hair hovered and looked at Kili, noting the way the dwarf's hood stayed over his face as best he could get it to although when he had been unconscious she had seen the state of his locks. "You." The trio looked up but she only stared at the archer. "Come with me."

Kili sighed but nodded and followed. The two watched him leave before looking back at the steaming water longingly. An elf in the doorway understood why they were hesitant and closed the door softly, hanging around outside to make sure no funny business took place whilst at the same time leaving Kara and Fili alone.

"I can't believe that just happened to us." Kara finally whispered, volume too low for any hoverers to hear. "I thought you were dead! She made me think that I killed one of you and I fell for it!"

"Hey." Fili soothed, pulling her into an embrace before resting his head on top of hers. "What did she do to you in there?"

"She locked me in a hole for days - told me murderers get punished!"

"Oh." Fili held her closer and the two rocked back and forth ever so slightly. "We're ok. And it's over now - uncle will have her head if he has anything to say about it."

"But now we're trapped in here and we don't even know where uncle is to get his vengeance!"

"I know."

"Our life sucks."

"I know."

"Well what happened to you in there?"

"Nothing too bad." Came the slight lie.

Kara pouted at the vague response. "Why do you worry about me and not yourself?"

"Because you're younger, and I love you."

"Kili's younger and you love him!"

"He can take care of himself."

"Can I not take care of _myself_?"

"Of course you can. But you're a girl." Kara smacked him so hard he had to try not to flinch. "What?"

"That is no reason to protect me anymore than a boy!"

"But I'm a boy."

"Oh well spotted."

"And men tend to feel the same way about things, so most of the time I know what Kili is thinking..." Fili paused in his speech. "Actually I _don't,_ now that I'm thinking about it..." Kara burst out laughing at this. "But uncle, I know when an injury truly hurts him. But you're different."

"It's a good job you can read me like a book, then."

"It is." Fili agreed as he splashed his face with some of the water before frowning when no gray came off on his fingers. "This stuff is sticky." he ripped a piece of fabric off of his tunic and dipped it in the water until he was sure it was soaked. He then had to wipe his face more forcefully than he would have liked for Kara to start seeing some results.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Kili asked the elleth who sat behind him with scissors.

"Sorting this mess out." She answered. "Was it really necessary to cut it this awkwardly?"

"Ok, I know elves hate dwarves but do you honestly think we're retarded enough to make ourselves look this way?" Came the immediate response. Tauriel felt a ghost of a smile play on her lips. "Anyway, why are we here?"

"Thranduil will want to see you after this. He will probably lock you up with the rest of your kin."

"They're here?!" Kili asked in surprise, out of the corner of his eye noticing the amount of hair that fell onto the ground and he tried not to cringe.

"Yes."

"Why do you listen to Thranduil? He's a betrayer!"

"He gave me refuge to his halls when nobody else would after my parents died. I owe him everything, even if he isn't the most pleasant person in the world."

"I'm sorry." Kili mumbled in reference to the first part of her statement.

"It's not your fault."

"So once we are healed we go in cells?"

"I can't do anything to stop it." She declared as though she was worried that he was about to beg her to not put them down there, but what he actually said next was more reasonable.

"Is there any chance that you can put my sister in with my uncle? She's just been trapped and starved in a hole for days, it's the least you people can do."

Tauriel sighed but saw the sad side of that statement which had her nodding. The sister in question looked so _young_ and _innocent._ "I suppose that would be alright."

* * *

An elf entered the room that Kara and Fili were in and threw her a pile of clothes. She frowned, unfolding what were indeed her own clothes but she wasn't sure how that was possible. "These are mine."

"That's why I gave them to you." The elf said, eyeing her wearily. She was another elleth, Kara noted.

"But they were in my pack which my other friends had."

"Yes and we took them when we caught your other friends."

"Wha...they're here?!"

"Yes. We saved them from the spiders and King Thranduil would have slain every one of us ten times over if we didn't bring them here had he learnt of their appearance." Kara gaped at her whilst she threw Fili the other pile who caught them with a grunt. She then lay some on the floor. "Give these to the other one." She ordered before swiftly departing.

Kili then entered a few minutes later.

"She cut your hair _evenly!"_ Fili exclaimed in relief. "Mahal, my fingers were curling to my knuckles every time I looked at it."

"Aye." Kili agreed, yanking his hood up.

"You can't hide your face forever." said Kara, narrowing her eyes gently.

"The crazy lady across the street did back home and she seems happy." he told them with a shrug. He lent down to the bath, splashing his face with the now colder water.

"It's really hard to get off." Fili muttered. "Use this." He threw Kili the rag who dipped it in and began to gratefully wipe his face with it. They didn't talk about the experience; she wanted to bring it up, but considering that neither of the other two broached the topic she presumed they didn't want to discuss it because if they did they would have mentioned it.

Kara made sure they weren't looking before pulling her fresh clothes on, savouring the feeling of comfort that they gave her. She felt a million times safer than she had felt in the other schmattes. The other two did the same and the trio threw the orange rags in a pile on the floor and kicked them multiple times in anger.

"We need a furnace so we can burn these." Kili muttered bitterly as the duo beside him murmured their undeniable agreements.

* * *

They now stood in front of King Thranduil who looked a lot different to what Kara had expected. She knew he was vain from many stories but the crown on his head, symbolizing the fact that he was a _woodland_ elf, was utterly ridiculous. He leant forward, observing them as though they were three oddly coloured beetles that he wasn't quite sure what to do with.

"Who are you three and what are you doing in my lands?" were the first words from his mouth. Kara internally scoffed. _Way to be friendly._

"I'm Fili." The blonde spoke up for the trio. "Nephew of Thorin Oakenshield, heir to the throne of Erebor. These are my two younger siblings, Kili and Kara."

"Heirs, you say?" The king asked, bringing a thoughtful finger up to his chin. In some twisted way it reminded Kara of the dreadful goblin king who had eyes and observed them in the same manner with the same type of demeanor. "Interesting." Thranduil then turned to Kili. "Why did you do that to your hair?"

"You mean the colour?"

"Do you hate your mother?"

"I love my mother!" Kili exclaimed.

"Your uncle was very unhelpful. Perhaps weaker specimen will be more understanding." The king mused as he changed the subject, turning to Kara who glared daggers at him.

"You lost any chance of us granting your wishes by saying what you just did."

"I came to the conclusion that you are heading to Erebor? Am I correct?"

"Why would we tell you that?" Fili spoke up defensively.

"Because you have no weapons on you but we do, and your flesh looks very easy to cut into." Came the reply as Legolas looked startled at the tone of his father from behind the trio.

"Are you related to orcs?" Kara asked with a raised eyebrow before shaking her head. "Listen, whatever it is you want it probably involves betraying my uncle which we will not do, no matter what."

"Gems." Thranduil said quickly. "For precision, white ones. That's all I want and your freedom is guaranteed."

"I don't think so." Fili hissed.

"And why not?"

Kara stepped forward. "Because you are truly vile and black at heart. You left _my_ people without aid against a _dragon_ who could have been defeated with your help! But no, you came back to your cozy little hole whilst we were stranded and wondered in the wilderness, starving! All we then did was ask for supplies and you turned us away again, when we did nothing to you! Mothers were forced to watch their children die with no help to offer, dead bodies practically left no room for us to walk because of _you_ and your pride which left us with no shelter or food. You didn't even possess the heart to give us water. Now you have the nerve to stand here and ask me and my kin for gems? I don't think so."

Thranduil was silent for a moment as he took in everything she had just hurled his way and the other elves were unsure what the next response would be. Kili tutted after about ten seconds of awkwardness, trying to break the silence for he didn't like it. It gave him a large feeling of trepidation, like Thranduil was about to blow up. "Gotta love a tyrant..."

The king's temper flared and he snapped his face to the archer's. "Nobody would dye their hair that colour unless they have psychological problems."

"My hair colour has nothing to do with _my_ psychological problems!"

Thranduil got out of his throne and both beings began to walk towards one another, barking out insults at the same time so nobody in the room could actually tell who was saying what. After a minutes of this - in which the elves twitched but dared not to step forward whilst Fili and Kara looked nervously towards one another - the two siblings began to slowly back away. They turned around and ran towards the door, but they didn't get very far for Legolas grabbed both of her shoulders and Fili paused too, knowing he would be caught.

"Ok, enough!" Legolas yelled, quieting both raging enemies into staring at him.

"Get this hideous thing out of my sight." The king ordered as he calmed his rage and the elves swept forward to grab Kili by the arms. "Take the blonde too."

"Wait." Kara hissed. "There is no point in keeping me here to convince me to do what I have already told you I will not! I will _not_ betray my uncle - not for you, not for anyone!"

"Then you will watch him and his filthy kin die within these walls!" Thranduil roared. "Take her as well!"

The elves surrounding them began to drag the struggling trio out of the room. "This will not end well - you hear me, Thranduil!" Kara screamed until the door shut in her face, the angry countenance of the elven king disappearing along with it.

The elves dragged them down a couple of hallways towards their desired destination. Her energy was drained or she would have fought back, claiming that she had legs and could use them perfectly well. They stopped, swung open a cage near the top of whatever strange room they were in and threw Kili in. They then paused further down and threw Fili in another. Neither brother uttered one word of protest which surprised her. The elves then left her with a familiar girl elleth who opened her uncle's cage and gestured for her to enter. She did so without complaint, desperate to see the exiled king who looked up from where he was staring at the ground and smiled. The elf shut the door and was on her way, leaving Thorin to engulf his niece in a warm hug as she buried her face in his shoulder. 

"Kara." He breathed. "Our hobbit told me you were here. He had caught glimpses of you in healing rooms. Where have you been all this time?"

"A bad place." Came the mumble of a response, the sound muffled and barely audible since her face was buried so deep within his furs.

"You may have to be more clear." He said as he rubbed soothing circles on her back, trying not to react to the bandages covering the skin behind her neck and probably below for she seemed bulkier than usual, though inside he was boiling with rage at whatever had caused the wounds so bad to need treatment.

"I don't wanna." She whined, pulling her face out with a sniff.

"Kara, I need to know who to kill when I get the chance."

"I don't know who you need to kill because I barely know who was there! They hid away like cowards."

Thorin blew out an angry breath through his nose. "Are your brothers alright?"

"Kinda." She muttered. "Fili's banged up - his hands are knackered." Thorin's eyes drooped in sadness. "And Kili's looks a little uh...different..." Thorin narrowed his eyes, urging her to elaborate on that point. "Years ago, when I got captured by those slave mongers Fili and Kili came inside to help me, remember?" The king in exile nodded. "There was a guy there as you know who went by 'the jester' or whatever, who practically killed Fili's hands and cut Kili's hair and dyed it and shaved his beard, remember?" She waited for the nod before continuing. "That happened again." Thorin growled deeply and she grimaced, knowing he was angry at the fact that dwarven hair was no laughing matter. "It was torture to make us feel like we're property."

"So it was all him?"

"And Flux. And Naomi made some gadget to watch us. I think there might be more people in there. I don't understand it, uncle. Why is she doing this?"

Thorin shook his head. "They want to kill our line to make Azog feel like a failure which is why they're working for an orc, but I don't know why they hate you so much unless it's because you released all of those children from that vile place." Kara nodded. "But I don't see why they would want Fili and Kili as well."

"Because Fili broke the cloning device." Kara whispered.

"But what's Kili done?"

_Blitz._

Kara shifted awkwardly, not sure if she should mention the evil that she had seen in said jester. Especially if the others in the company were around, listening in to the conversation. They were doing an applaudable job at not saying anything if they heard, though she supposed they were letting the pair reunite in peace and if they bothered speaking it would be as though they were interrupting something that they shouldn't. Fili definitely hadn't mention meeting him. She wasn't even sure if Kili knew, for mahal's sake!

She didn't answer and instead released a heavy, exhausted sigh. "I came on the quest ready to fight _orcs!_ Not to be trapped by my own kin!"

"Your own _evil_ kin who are all working for orcs. Some, anyway. Only a small bunch so I suppose they need a better army because Azog has most orcs on his side and there are a lot of those. It all links."

Kara nodded and peered out of the cage, eager to change the subject. "So how are we going to get out of here?"

"Our hobbit is making a plan. That is if he hasn't been captured yet. I have no idea how he is prancing around like he owns the place without having been caught yet. I just hope our escape involves no handkerchiefs."

Kara breathed a laugh, also not saying about the ring that he must be using. None of the things that she was hiding were hers to tell, this she knew, but it led her to the realisation that she was keeping a lot of secrets.

* * *

After about an hour an elf opened their cage and handed the two royals a bowl of disgusting slop each. However, Kara hadn't eaten anything except for pain medication and a piece of bread since her experience in the hole and she was starving, so she drained the bowl within moments and Thorin offered some of his which she gratefully accepted.

She sat there, leaning against the stone wall. For a while she slept and then made light conversation with a couple company members who could be bothered to speak. Both of her brothers appeared to be alone in the furthest cells away so that even if she screamed they could barely hear her.

"I'll wager the sun is on the rise. Must be nearly dawn." Bofur told them after a long, long silence in which Thorin just hummed.

"We're never gonna reach the mountain, are we?" Ori asked the question that they had all been wondering and dreading the answer to since they had been trapped in here. She scoffed - if they didn't she had been through all of that for nothing. Mahal, she would be safer back home in her own a _ctual_ bedroom.

"Not stuck in here you're not."

She looked up when she heard the familiar voice of her burglar, and her friend, of course. She smiled victoriously as Bilbo waved the keys through the bars.

The dwarves all began to cheer so Bilbo hastily hissed for them to be quiet. "There are guards nearby!" He warned them.

"I never doubted you for a second." Kara exclaimed quietly when he opened her cage first as she smacked him on the shoulder fondly and chased after her companions, joining the line that they all made in readiness to follow the hafling down some stairs and to mahal knows where.

Bilbo paused in front of Kili, holding out a confused finger. "You got up here fast, I was going to come down and get you."

The dwarf stared at him blankly. "Eh?"

Bilbo waved him off. "We don't have time for this." He sang before running along to be the leader.

Kara watched Thorin look over Fili and Kili for a moment, reassuring himself that they were physically ok although he wanted to be sick at their states before looking up, eyes demanding to know the hobbit's next move. He just made them descend a bunch of staircases until they made it into a wine cellar full of tipsy elves.

"I don't believe it, we're in the cellars!" Kili exclaimed.

"You're supposed to be leading us out, not further in." Bofur observed as the hobbit spared him an annoyed glance over his shoulder.

"I know what I'm doing."

Kara tried to creep but remembering the dwarves that she was with, the most rowdy and loud bunch that you could possibly find, she kind of gave up. Bilbo led them to a stack of barrels and surprisingly luck was on their side because they had yet to be caught.

"Everyone climb into the barrels, quickly!" he ordered as he ushered them along.

"Are you mad?! They'll find us!" Dwalin hissed to Bilbo.

"No no, they won't, I promise you, please, please, you must trust me!" He was practically begging and he put emphasis on every syllable and so she figured he was extremely confident with the plan and knew what he was doing. She could sense that a flurry of arguments was about to arise but Thorin spoke before utters of protest could pour from any of their lips.

"Do as he says."

She tucked herself into the tiny space, feeling a little claustrophobic but she didn't dare complain. She had been through worse. "Now what?" She asked, watching the dwarves surrounding her poke their heads out after herself.

"Hold your breath." Came the sharp response as Bilbo locked his hands around a lever.

"Hold our breath, wha..." Bofur began to ask until he was interrupted by the hafling yanking down the lever and the barrels began to roll on top of one another to then fall and land in some water.

When she landed her head resurfaced and she inhaled some air to get some oxygen to her lungs before looking up expectantly to the hole whence they fell, awaiting the fall of the hobbit.

Kili's hood had fallen and he stared down in embarrassment as the company gaped at him slightly until they were distracted by Bilbo screaming as he fell, with no barrel, into the water in front of them.

Thorin tore his eyes away from his nephew, holding down the anger bubbling in his stomach before offering a smile to his burglar. "Well done, master Baggins." He praised as Bilbo waved him off, concentrating not on what the leader was saying but on not drowning by clinging onto Nori's barrel.

They drifted down the stream with a rapid pace, staying close to one another until an opening that led to outside opened up in front of their eyes as they rounded a corner and Thorin found himself yelling in warning, knowing that they were about to fall.

Kara, in response to the dreadful warning, gripped the sides of her barrel until her knuckles turned white in readiness to fall.

When she landed her whole body was soaked and her clothes were plastered to her skin, making her cold but in the adrenaline rush of things she ignored this and flicked her wet hair from her eyes so she had a little chance of seeing something.

As they continued down various drops of water she heard the sound of a loud horn being blown and they made it to the gate that would lead them out of here, but one of the elves yanked down the lever. Kara glared at him as she whacked into Balin who hit a couple of dwarves who were stuck behind her uncle who smacked into the gate just as it closed. He banged the bars in annoyance.

Before they knew what was happening the elf that pulled the lever fell to the ground, an arrow penetrating from his back. The orc responsible fell off of the bridge above them from a blow and splashed into the water. In alarm, fighting began as more came and tried to dive on their barrels to get a taste of their flesh.

 _Mahal_. Kara thought as she knocked one off her barrel. _Can we not catch a break?_

The lever caught her eye, however, and she found herself leaping out of her barrel and onto the land.

"Kara!" She heard Dwalin yell her name and barely had time to catch an axe thrown her direction. She thrusted it behind her though and listened without looking back as it hit an orc who in turn squealed. She began to make her way up the hill towards the lever, thrashing out with her weapons to kill countless orcs as she knocked a couple in the water with a simple kick along with a cry.

Fili and Kili watched her with pride as she killed every orc that came her way. However, only the archer noticed Bolg readying his bow to shoot her and in turn grabbed a knife from Dwalin. Kara saw the arrow soaring through the air towards her at an alarming speed and stood stock still for a moment, ready to feel the blow when something smacked into it and knocked it off track and away from her.

Kili sighed in relief that his aim with the knife had gone well as Fili shot him a look of pure pride and gratitude, relief swimming through his veins whilst he punched another orc in the nose. He felt that no more injuries were needed today.

Kara sent him the same look before yanking down the lever, listening to the metal gate creak open and Thorin yell in satisfaction. She grinned as everyone cheered gratefully to her before she heard Fili yell her name as he held her barrel still and she slid off the side and back into it where she was dragged through the gate and down another waterfall.

After the fall her eyes were stinging from the amount of water inside of them. She concentrated on not falling out though because the barrel was rocking side to side whenever it pleased and she had no control over it.

Orcs continued to shoot them from the sides and she in turn yanked a couple of knives out of her boot and lobbed them. She shot Legolas and Tauriel and every elf that bothered to help constant glares for trying to re-capture them though silently thanked them for focusing on killing orcs and not them.

They were dragged under a tree branch which acted as an archway that a couple of orcs stood atop, glaring down at them. One of them was about to jump at Balin when Thorin threw a dagger which slid straight through its flesh and stuck it to the branch. Kara was happy that their aims and timing seemed to be good today.

Thorin threw another weapon back that eventually landed in the hands of her eldest brother who used it to knock off one of the orcs on the edge. He then threw it to her because an enemy was about to leap off of the side and onto her barrel. She watched in satisfaction as the weapon slit its petty throat and it plummeted into the water behind her. Dwalin head-butted an orc and managed to grab it's axe in the process of it flying back onto the land and used it to break a dent that Thorin had made in another archway tree branch so that it split in two and the orcs atop it fell into the water with no control and thankfully died.

The only question that she had was how Bombur, still in his barrel, flew above her head and onto the ground to the right of her. She presumed he had originally been on the left. He knocked the bottom off of his barrel with his feet and stood, thrusting weapons through the holes in the sides before spinning around to knock away every single orc surrounding him and most likely cause injury or death, before leaping back into the barrel which he threw into the water. However, she decided this would be a conversation better reserved for later.

Legolas also decided to show off by using their heads as stepping stones to shoot the orcs. She knew that, as the son of Thranduil, he was only doing it for the fun of it but pretended that it was necessary to kill off the enemies. She ducked when he tried to land on hers though and found herself snickering when his leg slipped and he took a mid-air stumble whilst other elves respectfully pretended not to notice.

Then they were away, free, and nobody had died.

* * *

**I feel like the long wait was worth it for this long chapter...**

**If you celebrate, I hope you had a great Christmas!**

**The torture that they witnessed will probably come in flashbacks in later chapters in little snippets, like the one near the start. This whole thing was basically a jump to about a week later. About Blitz as well...he is gonna be quite fun to write whenever he is in the story as he is quite an interesting character who does what everyone says and is used to the lifestyle of being abused into doing things with no choice and has never seen anything else. Him and Kara will have an interesting friendship! He is still basically evil though so be mad at him for helping to put the trio through all of that!**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


	15. Meeting Bard

Kara dragged herself onto land, wet clothing holding her back but she managed to clamber out of her barrel and eventually assist in helping Ori out of his who appeared to be having trouble. She mooched over to her brothers who trudged onto the terrain and sat heavily down, greeting her with tired smiles when she closed the distance between them.

"That was close." Were Fili's first words to her, making her roll her eyes. "Mum told us not to be reckless."

"No." Kara argued. "She told _Kili_ not to be reckless." The girl then glanced at her other brother. "Thank you."

"Oh." Kili answered when he realised she was referring to the 'nearly shot by an arrow' incident. "Sure."

Thorin stumbled over to them, trying to suppress grumbles about the stickiness of his clothing that were plastered uncomfortably to his skin. "We need to leave. On your feet."

"Where are we going?" Kara questioned.

"To the mountain. We're so close." The hobbit answered, kicking a stone from his path.

"A lake lies between us and that mountain." Balin informed them. "We have no way to cross it."

"So then we go around." Bilbo suggested as though it was the most obvious thing, though Dwalin was quick to disagree.

"The orcs will run us down as sure as daylight. We've no weapons to defend ourselves."

"Give us a sec." Kara muttered as she tried to tug her boot back on from where she'd emptied it of water.

"So where have you three been anyway?" Thorin crossed his arms gruffly, eyeing them skeptically when they didn't immediately supply him with any answers.

Fili forced a laugh at his uncle's question when he realised nobody was responding. "Well..."

He didn't want to explain and was saved from doing so when out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure arise. Kara noticed the shifting that the company did and too looked to see what was going on.

High on a rock stood a man, bow raised and eyes demanding for no attacks or she could tell he would not hesitate to shoot. Dwalin picked up a stick but an arrow was released immediately, ending up penetrating the form of defence. Kara panicked and grabbed a stone, holding it up in preparation to throw if need be but found her only weapon was knocked right out of her hands by another arrow in an impressively short time.

"Do it again and you're dead."

Balin edged forward, raising his hands defensively when an arrow was immediately aimed at him. "Excuse me, but um...you're from Lake-town, if I'm not mistaken? The barge over there, it wouldn't be available for hire by any chance?"

It took a long time for Bard to offer a response as he descended some stone, the company following by Balin's lead. "What makes you think I would help you?"

"Those boots have seen better days, as has that coat. No doubt you have some hungry mouths to feed? How many bairns?" Balin asked as they came to a halt in front of the boat.

"A boy and two girls."

"And your wife, I imagine, is a beauty?"

"Aye." Bard stood tall, gazing sadly over the horizon for the briefest of moments. "She was."

Balin's face dropped as he realised what he had just said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Oh, come on, come on, enough with the niceties." Dwalin interrupted roughly, crossing his arms.

"Dwalin." Kara hissed, holding her hands out to try and keep conflict from stirring. She edged forward, leaving her spot stood in the middle of the line that had somehow been created. "Master..." She realised a little belatedly that she didn't know his name. "All we need is to get into Lake-town. I wager there are ways to get through there unseen. Why not tell us?"

"There are ways." He agreed simply, reaching down to unhook one of the ropes. "But for that you will need a smuggler."

"For which we will pay. Double." She said, staring into his eyes with all seriousness. He studied her, noticing the white streak in her hair which made a part of his stomach flip but he tried not to visibly react, whilst the last part of her sentence also perked his interest.

* * *

They boarded his boat in moments and seated themselves at one end of the boat in readiness to count the coins whilst Bard stood at the other end, stirring the ore to control the ship. Kara lent against the side next to him, giggling as she listened in to Thorin and Balin arguing about money.

Bard scoffed at them and looked out to sea. "So... miss Kara."

She looked up at the bowman in surprise at hearing her name spilling from his lips. Bard knew that their conversation would miss the ears of the distracted company. "You know me?"

"I do." he agreed. "Or, my son does."

"Who is your son?"

"Bain."

"Bain?!" She asked in shock. "Really?"

"Really."

"He's alive?"

"He's alive."

"He made it back."

"He did."

"Stop agreeing with everything I'm saying!" She snapped, sagging back into a seat on the side, sparing a vague glance at her arguing for money companions. "Sorry."

"No worries." She glared at him irritably, wondering why his sentences were so short and blunt. "So tell me." he continued, noticing her annoyance. "What are you and your kin doing in these parts?"

"Visiting distant relations." She supplied information for him a little too quickly. "In the Iron hills. We are just merchants."

"And what business did you have with the elves?"

Kara blinked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Girl, stop trying to fool me. I know where those barrels came from. I know not what business you had with them but judging by the fact that Thranduil would most certainly not allow a party of thirteen dwarves to walk his land I'm guessing that it did not end well."

"Why do you keep acting like you know everything about us?" She asked. "You know now where we are going but truly have no idea what we have done before now."

"I can make a few guesses." He hummed, observing the dwarves who, to his pleasure, had begun to pile up coins at his order. "I see supplies of elvish make in the pockets of your companions that would come not from Mirkwood, but Rivendell?" He asked, looking at her as she raised her eyebrows.

"Whatever you say."

"And you have most certainly crossed paths with orcs at some point as your weapons are hardly sharpened and definitely unclean. Some form of creature, I can predict goblins or orcs, have tortured you." He guessed, staring at the bandages on her wrists that, when noticing his gaze, she tried to hide. "And recently either the elves or some other human-type being have done something to your friend. Goblins and orcs are not smart enough to realise that torture isn't always physical, sometimes about taking pride." He pointed to Kili who chucked a couple of coins onto the table.

"Oh stop." She hissed.

"And the blonde one appears to have earned himself a good burn on the hands, am I correct?"

After a moment of silence between the two Kara inhaled shakily. "Impressive." She praised. "Though not completely accurate."

"Mm." he mused, turning the ore on the ship with tense muscles. "We'll see."

They began to enter a mist above the lake which panicked many members of the company. "Watch out!" Bofur called when noticing the peak of a large rock poking from the water's surface. However, Bard wasn't worried and sailed smoothly past it which allowed a couple of members of the company, including a panicked Ori, to breathe.

"What are you trying to do?" Thorin barked. "Drown us?"

"I was born on these waters, master dwarf. If I wanted to drown you, I would not do it here."

"Oh, I've had enough of this lippy lake-man. I say we throw him over the side and be done with him." Dwalin declared bitterly.

Kara chuckled and walked back over to sit by him. "His name's Bard."

"How do you know?" Bofur asked.

"I heard him tell Bilbo."

"I don't care what his name is." Dwalin stated, standing up to lean against a barrel. "I don't like him."

"We do not have to like him. We simply have to pay him." Balin pointed out, studding the pile of money with ageing eyes. "Come on lads, turn out your pockets."

"How do we know he won't betray us?" Dwalin muttered to Thorin.

"We don't."

"There's just a wee problem." Balin spoke again, counting the coins with his fingers again just to make sure he was correct. "We're ten coins short."

Thorin crossed his arms, leaning against the side of the boat with an amused glance at one of their red-headed companions. "Gloin. Come on. Give us what you have."

"Don't look to me. I have been bled dry by this venture. What have I seen for my investment?"

Kara was barely listening to him for her eyes were latched on to something else, something so near that she felt if she reached out she would be able to touch it. As she slowly arose to her feet in utter awe she could tell her companions had spotted what she had as well as they rose with her.

"Naught but misery and grief and..." he stopped dead when he noticed that nobody was listening to him anymore. He looked in the direction of their gazes where one solitary peek could be visibly seen through the mist. "Bless my beard. Take it. Take all of it." He handed the money that he had stashed away to Balin as he stared awestruck at the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo suddenly cleared his throat, interrupting their gaze but it was for reason as the man hopped down from the end of the boat and started towards them.

"The money. Quick. Give it to me."

"We will pay you when we get our provisions but not before." Thorin declared.

"We never agreed on provisions."

"This money is worth more than a smuggler, bowman."

"If you value your freedom you will do as I say. Provisions don't come now anyway, they come later. Hand it over. There are guards ahead."

Kara looked to see through the mist what was definitely a town, for the many blurry rooftops of buildings were a big giveaway.

"Everyone get in a barrel."

"No." Kara groaned. "Again with the barrels, we've just been inside them."

"Are you dwarves trying to get caught?" He asked in irritation whilst jumping back up to stir them in the correct direction as they were beginning to drift off course.

They huffed and groaned when they were forced to climb into a barrel each once again. Kara just hoped that this time it wouldn't involve rushing rivers and near death experiences.

It was a lot worse.

Kara squeezed her eyes tightly shut when mountains of raw fish were dumped straight on her head. The stench was revolting and the feeling of the slime against her skin was horrific.

Minutes before Bilbo had made them think he was selling them out from where he stalked Bard through a peephole in his barrel, the man had decidedly filled each cask to the very brim as a cover, knowing there was no way the dwarves could be spotted under masses of fish. Kara wanted to vomit after five minutes of being in the stuffy area.

_Man, it's getting hard to breathe in here._

"We're approaching the toll gate." He warned, steering them in the correct direction. Kara gulped, praying with everything in her that this was going to go well. She could hear the sound of echoing voices but it was hard to make out what they were saying through the many layers of fish. However, she could feel her barrel moving which panicked her and she pressed her hands against the side to stop herself from falling as her barrel was tipped straight over the edge and fish began to fall out with plops into the water. A moment later it was stood straight back up and she released a breath of relief that when she looked up she could still only see fish and not sky.

When they made it safely to Bard's desired location she felt her barrel tip over and slid out among the fish that she had been travelling with. She scrambled to her feet and glared at the dead creatures whilst Dwalin popped his head out of the barrel in rage. "Get your hands off of me."

"Kara!" Fili called, running over to her. "You ok?"

"I'm good." She replied, quickly moving to keep up with the line of dwarves who were ushered along by Bard after he paid someone to keep quiet about their unwelcome presences.

A new arrival emerged from nowhere and ran over to Bard with wide eyes. "Da! Our house, it's being watched."

Kara raised herself onto her tiptoes in an attempt to see over their heads. Apart from Dwalin, Thorin and Kili she found herself exceeding the height of most company members. She then remembered the continuous bullying hurled her way in childhood years for being born to early and thus being short and felt the need to punch each and every one of them right now.

She saw what she wanted to see but barely; the young boy had a mop of dark brown hair that matched his eyes and he looked rather distressed as he relayed the news to his father. Bard pressed his lips together in a thin, frustrated line, glancing around to try and figure out what to do.

Now Kara loved the water; she would spend days back at home diving into lakes and rivers, playing splash with her brothers until after sunset when it was too dark for them to see anything.

But right now she wanted to lie in a bed, curl up and not touch water for another week. Especially when Bard told them to swim directly through a freezing cold lake to eventually come up in a toilet inside his house.

Fili put his hands on her shoulders before they entered the liquid. "If we end up in any more water after this I swear to mahal I will march back home."

Fili chuckled and squeezed them reassuringly. "We've come too far for that now. Even if water does suck."

She nodded in agreement and they slid themselves in, pulling along the edge until the one area where they had to go underwater. She had given up caring about her hair since Mirkwood and ducked under with no complaint, arising from a dank hole after everybody else.

The boy stood there immediately held out a hand which she took gratefully, stumbling forward. He caught her and she pushed herself back in embarrassment, straightening to her full height. "Sorry."

"It's fine!"

She held out a finger, closing one eye. "Bain...right?"

"Yes." he agreed, tilting his head at her familiarity until he saw the white in her hair and finally realised who she was. "Kara?"

She grinned. "That's me."

He laughed, pulling her into an embrace. "I'm stoked to see you!"

She pulled away with a smile. "Me too!" He just stared at her with a beam, not shifting his face or saying anything more which unnerved her slightly. "You made it back!" She created conversation, arms flailing in front of her in disbelief. "To your...family..."

"Yeah." He agreed. "A couple of those kids were escorted back here with me, and I think there were one or two elves in there who were taken to Rivendell or wherever the heck they came from."

Kara breathed a chuckle. "Aye."

"But most were dwarves. Did Lana make it back?"

"She lives with a couple down the street from us. They can't have kids and they were happy to take her in."

"You two are still friends?"

Kara nodded. "Mm. She's my best friend."

"And what about the others?"

"Yeah, all good. They all made it back."

"Raven?"

Kara frowned. Raven didn't have parents either and didn't live in The Blue Mountains. She recalled he had been chucked in the dungeons a few times and came and went as he pleased, but never really had any further contact with him. "He's good." She lied.

"Good." He concluded with a soft smile, worry that had swirled in his gut for over a decade relaxing. "Listen, are you cold?"

"Oh aye."

"Come this way. I think Tilda is handing out the towels."

She followed him up the stairs gratefully, savouring the feeling of warmth when a young girl handed her a towel. "Thank you." she offered, smiling at the youngster who didn't return it, only gazed up at her with wide eyes.

"Are you Kara?"

She shrugged. "That's me."

"I'm Tilda. Bain has told me all about you!"

"Tilda." Her brother hissed as Kara held back a grin. "Please take a seat."

She nodded awkwardly and spotted her brothers sat huddled in a corner, not saying anything to anyone. She frowned and took a seat beside them. "What are you two losers doing?"

"Losers?" Fili asked offended as she offered a playful snark.

"You heard me."

"Waiting for Bard to show us his weapons." He said.

"And sulking." Kara denied. "Cheer up, you both look so depressed."

"We are." they said simultaneously, making her roll her eyes. With a determined jump she clapped her hands together.

"Come on, we'll avenge ourselves. We need to take a stand!"

Kili frowned and peered up at her through his messy, still wet bangs. "By sitting?"

She scoffed and grabbed his arm, yanking him up prior to her shifting to do the same to Fili who held out his hands and stood up himself, the trio ambling over to grab some water. When they were done they reseated themselves in the same corner, discussing the weird tappy taste of the water that Bard served here.

Thorin finished his business talking to Balin and Dwalin and ambled irritably over to his nephews and niece who sat huddled in a circle, emitting one another their warmth.

He plonked himself on a chair in front of them and they looked up at his sudden presence. "Hey, uncle." Fili greeted for them, looking at the mug in Thorin's hands. "How is the ale here in Laketown?"

"Fruitier than I would usually like, but I suppose it'll do. Here." he offered Fili the mug who accepted and took a sip, grimacing with his tongue stuck out as he handed it back to his uncle.

"Aye, it is fruity. The darker ale of our kin is a lot better."

Thorin smiled. "That's my lad." He then slapped his knees. "Listen, there's chicken and whatnot up there. Our host tells us to help ourselves."

"I tried their buck." Kara declared. "I don't recommend."

"I know. The chicken is fine though." Thorin agreed, shooting a bitter glare towards the table that housed such revolting meat. He tilted his head at his youngest nephew, deciding now was the time to play the kinder role of uncle since there was no pressure to do anything or go anywhere. "Kili, how do you fair?"

The archer blinked, barely looking up. "I'm good." He mumbled in response.

Thorin tried to lighten the situation that he himself knew he knew nothing of by tilting his head to the side and looking at the blonde and redhead. "Is it just me or did the elves take his tongue?"

Fili shrugged, Kara awkwardly looked to the side and Kili gave him a strange, ghostly look. "Maybe you shouldn't be lickin' that chicken."

"Yeah uncle, a couple of weeks back by eating chicken I learnt that it can make you confused." Fili declared, remembering why he hadn't touched a piece of the chicken that he had been given when he was isolated in his 'room' since the second day in there.

"And you can forget things." Kara added, gazing up into the air in thought as she spoke worryingly slowly. "Then wake up with scratches that you don't know how you got."

Thorin shifted uncomfortably. "What does that mean?"

Their conversation was thankfully interrupted. The trio heard a clunk and looked over as a bunch of weapons fell from their tightly packed pile in a case onto the table and rushed over to get a closer look, frowning at what they ended up observing.

They reached forward and grabbed the foreign items, studding them like they were an odd, brightly coloured beetle in a jar of all black ones. "What is this?" Thorin grimaced.

"Pike hook. Made from an old harpoon."

"And this?" Kili asked. Kara thought what he was holding looked like a hammer that someone new to woodwork had managed to produce.

"A crow bill, we call it. Fashioned from a smithy's hammer. It's heavy in hand, I grant but in defence of your life, these will serve you better than none."

Gloin decided to bark what they were all thinking. "We paid you for weapons. Ion-forged swords and axes!"

"It's a joke!" Bofur exclaimed, throwing whatever it was he had in his hand back onto the table, a move that everyone else soon mirrored.

"You won't find better outside the city armoury. All iron-forged weapons are held there under lock and key."

"Thorin..." Balin began. "Why not take what's on offer and go? I've made do with less. So have you. I say we leave now."

"You're not going anywhere."

"What did you say?"

"There are spies watching this house and probably every dock and wharf in the town. You must wait till nightfall."

The dwarves reluctantly sat back down, but one gaze into her uncle's eyes and Kara knew that this was a rule they were going to have to break.

* * *

The company stood in a line, constantly looking back and forth to make sure no men were lingering around ready to pounce.

"Shh. Keep it down." Dwalin hissed in reference to their irritating chattering.

"As soon as we have the weapons, we'll make straight for the mountain." Thorin decided, looking to Nori. "Go, go, go."

Nori made a run for it towards the armoury building, the rest of the dwarves kneeling in front of the window to allow Nori to step onto their backs and climb through it.

"Next."

In response to Thorin's command, Bilbo hastened in the same direction as the thief before him, climbing onto their backs to dive through the window. Kara was quick to follow. Once she made it inside she began to study the racks, contemplating which weapons best to take. The girl picked out a couple of decent ones, only for Thorin to dump a pile more into her arms and gesture for her to descend the steps and out to where they were hoping to depart to the Lonely Mountain. The king in exile followed his niece down, the rest of the dwarves who had come inside with them on his tail.

"Kara go round when you get out and signal to the others." Thorin ordered.

She spun around to listen to him when she made it to the bottom and held the weapons in her arms with a grin, backing towards the door to push it open with her back. "We warn them and head straight for the...dah!" She found herself jumping with fright when she turned around on her toes to face the chest of what would definitely be a man. She cleared her throat, tightening her grip on her means of defence. "This is uh...not what it looks like." She began pointlessly as one of them, a hunky blonde one, raised an eyebrow at her pathetic story opening.

"What else could it possibly be?"

Thorin's breath caught in his throat as he stopped dead on his way down the stairs, the company falling into a halt behind him. He was honestly unsure whether to run out and interfere or stay back and clamber out the other window.

"Ok, so here's the thing..." Kara started to explain, slowly backing away in the hopes to get a far enough distance that she could bolt, but she ended up stood on what felt like the toes of two more beings and when out of the corner of her eye she saw the stick of a speer digging into the ground from the hands of whoever was behind her, she gulped. "And there are guards behind me." At a confirmed nod from the man in front of her next to the blonde one she spun around on her tiptoes and faced the two extremely unimpressed looking men. "Hello boys."

* * *

It didn't take long for the men around the area to seize into action, grabbing their arms to drag them into the centre of the town and in front of the master, despite their struggling. It wasn't hard to sniff the dwarves hiding around the corner, either.

Now they stood, watching the double doors up a set of steps fall open, revealing the not very happy looking master who stepped out with irritation. "What is the meaning of this?"

"We caught them stealing weapons, sire." The blonde that Kara was really beginning to hate spoke up.

"Ah. Enemies of the state, eh?"

"A desperate bunch of mercenaries, if ever there was, sire."

"Hold your tongue." Dwalin hissed, stepping forward from the crowd. "You do not know to whom you speak. This is no common criminal. This is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror!"

"We are the dwarves of Erebor. We have come to reclaim our homeland." Thorin spoke up when all attention around the place landed on nothing but him. "I remember this town in the great days of old. Fleets of boats lay at harbour filled with silks and fine gems. This was no forsaken town on a lake. This was the centre of all trade in the North!" The crowd agreed rather wistfully. "I would see those days return. I would relight the great forges of the dwarves and send wealth and riches flowing once more from the halls of Erebor!" This sent the crowd crazy and they erupted into a burst of cheers, Thorin flicking his hair back to look at the master.

Bard didn't seem to happy with the attire though and pushed his way through the surprised humans. "Death! That is what you will bring upon us! Dragon fire and ruin. If you waken that beast it will destroy us all."

"You can listen to this naysayer but I promise you this: If we succeed, all will share in the wealth of the mountain." Kara smiled at the chattering going on around her, nodding at her uncle's decision. He often had a tough exterior but deep down she knew he cared deeply about the well-beings of his people and aside elves, most others, and she knew he would keep his word. "You will have enough gold to rebuild Esgaroth ten times over!"

"All of you! Listen to me!" Bard yelled, attempting to capture their attention over the cheering. "You must listen! Have you forgotten what happened to Dale? Have you forgotten those who died in the firestorm?! And for what purpose? The blind ambition of a Mountain King so riven by greed, he could not see beyond his own desire!"

"Now, now! We must not, any of us be too quick to lay blame. Let us not forget that it was Girion, Lord of Dale, your ancestor who failed to kill the beast!" The master pointed out smugly.

Kara faced the guy with an angry expression, pity for Bard creeping into her array of emotions.

"It's true, sire. We all know the story. Arrow after arrow, he shot. Each one missing its mark." Alfrid snivelled.

As conversation stirred, Bard took a step closer to Thorin. "You have no right. No right to enter that mountain."

Thorin slowly turned to face him, a look of pure determination blazing in his blue orbs, clouded by irritation at the bowman. "I have the only right." The king in exile then turned to face the master. "I speak to the Master of the men of the lake. Will you see the prophecy fulfilled? Will you share in the great wealth of our people?" The master appeared to hesitate, but Thorin persisted. "What say you?"

A smile broke out onto the face of their leader. "I say unto you...welcome! Welcome and rise! Welcome, King Under the Mountain!"

This earnt an eruption of cheers from the tense crowd who had been worried about the denial of their ruler. Kara smiled at the scene before her eyes, with no doubt that by the time they defeated the malevolent dragon, all would share in the treasured wealth of their kingdom.

* * *

**I'm gonna post the next chapter in a couple of days cuz that took wayyy too long!**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**


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